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(LIFE AND SERMONS 

OE 

I 

D. L MOODY. 







NEW YORK : 

J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY, 

57 Rose Street. 



-^ 






■y 




LIFE AND SERMONS 

OF 

DWIGHT L MOODY. 



CONTAINING 



THE STORY OF HIS BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE — A HISTORY OF HIS 
WONDERFUL POWER AND SUCCESS AS AN EVANGELIST J ALSO, 
TWENTY-FOUR OF HIS BEST SERMONS — FULL PARTICULARS 
OF HIS DEATH AND FUNERAL SERVICES, COM- 
MENTS OF THE PRESS, AND EULOGIES 
BY PROMINENT MEN. 



Edited by T. S. OGILVIE. 

J 

WITH INTRODUCTION BY 

GEORGE R. SCOTT, 

Of the "New Fork Weekly Witness. 



THE SUNNYSIDE SERIES. No.no. January, 1900. Issued Quarterly $1.00 
per year. Entered at New York Post-Office as second-class matter. 



NEW YORK : 

J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY, 

57 Rose Steeet. 



TWO COPIES RECEIVED. m 

Offlos of the \y* '"' * C 

m x 

Btgitt+F of Copyrights 



54404 



Copyright, 1900, by 
J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY, 



Copyrighted in Great Britain. 



S~ COPY, 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
d 

V 

CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Sketch of the Great Evangelist — Born a Poor New 
England Boy — Holding Thousands Spellbound — 
Hid Work as an Educator, . . . .31 

CHAPTER II. 

His Acquaintance with Mr. Sankey, ... 41 

CHAPTER III. 

Mr. Moody in Great Britain, .... 50 

CHAPTER IV. 
Mr. Moody's Life Work for the Master, ... 56 

CHAPTER V. 

The Simplicity of his Methods — His Abounding Faith, 61 

CHAPTER TI. 

The Famous Evangelist Passes Peacefully Away at 
East N orthfield — Comforting his Family at his 
Bedside — His Last Words, . . 64 

CHAPTER VII. 

A Nation Mourns for Moony — Thousands Attend the 
Funeral Services and Listen to the Eulogies by 
Distinguished Christian Leaders — A Last Look 
at the Dead — Simple Ceremonies at the Grave, 68 

CHAPTER VIH. 
The Man and his Mes-age— The Message one of Sal- 
vation and Hope, 87 

CHAPTER IX. 
Mr. Moody in his Relation to the Christian Church, 

— The Secret of his Success 93 

3 



LIST OF SERMONS. 



The Work of the Holy Spirit, 

God's Service and the Holy Spirit, 

Elements of True Prayer, 

Thy Will, not Mine, be Done, . 

Trust in God Brings Perfect Peace, 

Watch, Fight, and Pray, 

The Influence of the Individual, . 

That " Elder Brother," 

Obedience to God's Commands, . 

No Room for Christ, 

How to be Saved, .... 

Sowing and Reaping, 

How to Convert Infidels, 

Excuse Giving, .... 

The Work of the Shepherd, . 

The Centurion at Capernaum, 

Our Victory over the World, 

Forgiveness and Obedience, 

The Power of Faith, 

The Inspiration of the Bible, 

God is Love, 

Walking with God, 

What Shall the Harvest Be? 

4 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE. 

Portrait of D. L. Moody, . . . Frontispiece 

Mr. Moody's Birthplace, 82 

Mr. Moody with His First Sunday School Class 

in Chicago, 112 

Mr. Moody's Church in Chicago, . . . 144 

Mr. Moody's Tabernacle in Chicago after the 

Great Fire, 176 

One of Mr. Moody's Meetings, . . . .208 

Ira D. Sankey, Mr. Moody's Co-worker, . . 240 

Mr. Moody's Mother, 2 12 

The Second Congregational Church, East North- 
field, WHERE THE FUNERAL SERVICES WERE 

Held 304 

Round Top, Northfield, where Mr. Moody is 
Buried, 336 



Vll 



INTRODUCTION. 



Few men or women are so ignorant as not to know 
who Dwight L. Moody was and what he did to win the 
hearts of the people to the Saviour. The future will 
honor him as one of the most successful evangelists the 
world has ever known. 

When his w r ork was done he closed his eyes in death 
and went to another world, where he has as many 
friends as he had on earth. 

In his young days he had few opportunities to im- 
prove his mind; but after he gave his heart to his 
Saviour he made great progress in learning the will of 
God concerning him and fitting himself to become a 
torchlight on the walls of Zion. 

To know him was to know a man who walked 
and talked with God; a man who listened to the 
voice of God rather than the voices of his fellow-men; 
a man who wanted to know what God demanded of 
him, because it was his pleasure to obey His commands. 

He was a born leader of men, and knew when to coax 
and when to reprove; when to tell his listeners of the 
surpassing love of Jesus and when to tell them of a 
God who is angry with sinners every day. 

The great New England evangelist was a workman 



viii INTRODUCTION. 

for Jesus who knew his business. He followed out the 
injunction "One thing I do," and did that one thing to 
perfection — for he preached only Jesus Christ and Him 
crucified to a dying people. 

The dead man of whom I am writing made no pre- 
tensions to be a politician or a lecturer; he was not an 
author, nor was he a singer. He was only a preacher; 
but one of the most successful that ever trod this earth. 

Like his Master, Mr. Moody drove home the truths 
he wanted to get into the heads and hearts of the people 
by apt illustrations that drew their attention, and which 
they could not forget, even if they tried to. 

He was a power, and could not be otherwise, for he 
knew what he talked about. If he had never known 
that his Redeemer lived, he never could have wielded 
the power he did on audiences gathered together for 
religious instruction. He was no stranger to Him who 
lived, died, and rose again. He daily kept up com- 
munication with Him who softens the hearts of men 
and makes them ready to hear the Word to some 
purpose. 

It was an old-fashioned Gospel that he preached, but 
it was not allowed to lose its force while passing from 
his lips to the hearts of his hearers. He shot it at them 
from a loving heart, and often bathed the truths he 
uttered with his tears. 

Mr. Moody was a brave man. He honored God the 
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. He 
did not say to the people, Please love God and keep his 



INTRODUCTION. ix 

commandments; but be did say, You must. He 
preacbed tbe whole trutb — tbat there is a Heaven to 
gain and a Hell to sbun. 

As a successful fisher of men, Mr. Moody bas bad no 
superior. When he went fishing for the souls of men he 
carefully baited bis Gospel books, and generally took 
Mr. Sankey or some other singer along to enchant the 
fish with songs that hardly ever failed to have a melting 
effect. He was wise enough to know how necessary it 
is to go "two and two" if it is victory that is wanted. 

He was not only a consecrated man, but also a busi- 
ness man. He did not go into a revival campaign as a 
horse goes into battle. He prayed and he thought; and 
he thought and he prayed. By faith and works he ac- 
complished what be did. 

If there ever was a man wbo bad a commission from 
Heaven to preach, that man was Mr. Moody. There 
was no necessity for him to tell the people that he was 
so commissioned; for when bespoke tbe masses felt 
tbat be was no common man, but tbat be bad a "call" 
to assist tbe Spirit in drawing men and w r omen to Jesus. 

The first time I heard Mr. Moody preach the great- 
est attraction of the man to me was his seeming anxiety 
to hide behind the Cross, and to give all the glory to 
Christ for tbe results of bis w r ork. 

God evidently fitted out Mr. Moody for a special 
work. There was nothing small about him, either in 
voice, build or power of endurance. He was equal to 
almost every emergency. His voice and looks were 



X WTBODUCTIOIT. 

soft and tender at times; but he could be a "Son of 
Thunder" when thunder was necessary. 

Mr. Moody was an earnest man. To a gentleman he 
once made the remark: "The world has yet to learn 
what God can do by a man wholly devoted to Him." 
And the world has learned what God could do with 
such a man as Moody, for He made him a man who 
could say to sinners, "Come," and they came at his 
command to the foot of the Cross, repenting and ex- 
pressing sorrow for their sins of omission and commis- 
sion. 

Mr. Moody's external appearance was rough; but 
when once acquainted with him it was to feel that he 
was made up of tenderness and love. 

There was but one Moody, and he will not be dupli- 
cated; for God never made two flowers or two blades 
of grass alike. A better man than Mr. Moody may 
make his appearance; but he will not be like the man 
of whom I am writing. 

Mr. Moody was just the man needed in his day and 
generation. He had to be just what he was in order to 
fill the niche in which God placed him. No other kind 
of a man would have answered the Divine purpose. 
God wanted Moody, and fortunately he said, "Lord, 
here am I." And the Lord took him just as he was, 
without a college education or any special training for 
the great work which he was to do. 

Early in life Mr. Moody got on God's side without 
wasting time and words asking God to be on his side. 



INTRODUCTION. xi 

The life of the departed was not all sunshine; but he 
always knew that there was light somewhere behind 
the blackest clouds. 

Mr. Moody was not laid long on a bed of sickness to 
waste gradually away. From one of the largest meet- 
ings he ever addressed he was taken to his beloved 
home in Massachusetts, and there died "in the harness." 

Is he forgotten? No! He cannot be forgotten, for 
the tramp of those is still heard on earth who gave their 
hearts to Jesus at the request of D wight L. Moody. 

Do not fret for the departed, for the angels are taking 
good care of him whom so many loved on earth. He 
crossed over Jordan a little ahead of you and me. 
Shall we meet beyond the river? is the question that 
each of us must solve. 

My earnest wish is that this volume may have a large 
and ever-increasing circulation, and that those who read 
the story of his life and death may be encouraged to 
"go and do likewise." 

George R. Scott. 

Rockville Centre, L. I. 



LIFE AND SERMONS OF 

DWIGHT L. MOODY. 



SKETCH OF THE GREAT EVANGELIST— BORN 
A POOR NEW ENGLAND BOY— HOLDING 
THOUSANDS SPELLBOUND— HIS WORK 
AS AN EDUCATOR. 

The old farmhouse in which Mr. Moody first saw 
the light is yet standing in Northfield, Massachusetts, 
and it is still occupied by Mr. Moody's older brother, 
George, whose son, Abner G. Moody, is the general 
business manager of Mr. Moody's work at Northfield. 
In the old family Bible, still well preserved, may be 
found among the "Births" the following interesting 
information in regard to Mr. Moody's parents: 

"Edwin Moody was born November 1, 1800. 

"Betsy Holton was born February 5, 1805." 

And among the "Marriages" : 

"Edwin Moody and Betsy Holton were married Jan- 
uary 3, 1828." 

"The Plantation of Northfield" was bounded and 
staked out by a committee of the General Court of Mas- 
sachusetts, over two hundred years ago, having been 



32 LIFE AFD SERMONS OF 

bought from the Indians in 1677. William Holton 
, was a member of this committee, and from him, Betsy, 
the mother of Dwight, was a lineal descendant, being 
five generations later. The Holtons were, therefore, 
among the oldest, if not the very oldest, settlers at 
Northfield, and the Moodys were also among the well- 
known old families of that ancient town. 

Dwight Lyman was born February 5, 1837, being 
the sixth of a large family of nine children. Four 
years later his father, who was a workingman— a 
mason — died, while upon his knees in prayer at his 
bedside, and so suddenly that even his wife was 
unaware that he was in other than his usual robust 
health. He came home from his work in the morning 
with a slight pain in his side, and passed away soon 
after noon of the same day. A month later a boy and 
a girl were born, and the widow was left with this 
fanily of nine, the oldest being only thirteen, and with 
nothing for her support but the old farmhouse and a 
couple of acres of land. What to do she scarcely 
knew. Neighbors told her to bind out her children, all 
but the twins, but she said no. She determined to 
struggle on and do the best she could till some of her 
children could help her, and this she did, and was at 
last rewarded by all the help she needed, and from 
those whom she had watched over so tenderly and 
anxiously all through her poverty and toilsome life. 

Mrs. Moody was a devout Christian, and took no end 
of pains to teach her children the truths of the Bible as 



D WIGHT L. MOODY. 33 

she understood them. Her pastor was the Rev. Oliver 
Everett, a Unitarian, but a faithful, conscientious man, 
and his controversies with his orthodox brethren were 
not as radical and sweeping in their effects as we find 
some of them nowadays. Pastor Everett believed in 
the Bible as the inspired Word of God, and in Jesus 
as the Saviour of sinners, and, in fact, if he had known 
of the "Apostles' Creed" as we have it nowadays, he 
would not have found much fault with it, although 
some of the dogmas of our present-day orthodox belief 
might have bothered him quite as much as they do 
many other good people. On the whole, as Mr. Moody 
used to say, Pastor Everett was "not enough of a Uni- 
tarian to do much harm," and quite different from his 
successor, who was a rationalist of the most pronounced 
type. At one time he took young Dwight into his 
family to "do errands" for him and "go to school," all 
of which was a mere work of charity upon the good 
man's part, for he foresaw that Mrs. Moody would 
have more on her hands than she could well take care 
of. At school young Dwight distinguished himself, 
but not in the line of book lore. The very last thing 
that he wished to do was to study, and he never did it 
except at the urgent request of his mother, and then 
only pro tempore. He was of a generous nature, and 
though not vicious he was willful and ungovernable, 
and the leading spirit in all manner of mischief and 
fun. More than once the trustees threatened to turn 
him out of school, and his teacher, in despair, went to 



34 LIFE AND SERMONS OF 

his mother and told her she knew not how to manage 
him. His mother was greatly troubled, and immedi- 
ately took him in hand. She told him how hard she 
had worked that he might become a good, useful boy, 
and how much she had loved him, and that it would 
griev9 her beyond endurance to have her boy turned out 
of school because he could not or would not behave. 
There was nothing in the world that Dwight would 
not do for his mother. She had at that age an influence 
over him that no one else possessed. He broke down, 
and promised that he would go the next day and ask 
the teajher's forgiveness, and try hard to be a good 
boy, that he might not bring his mother into disgrace. 
And he was as good as his word. What passed be- 
tween his teacher and himself the next day was never 
told, but he immediately relinquished his leadership in 
mischief and applied himself faithfully to study. He 
worked bard, but it was his last term of school, and he 
was seventeen years of age, and it was too late for him 
to receive the advantages of such an education as he 
might easily have acquired if he had made this resolve 
earlier. The time had come when he must leave school 
and go to work to help support the family. 

MR. MOODY'S BOSTON EXPERIENCE. 

He first went to a brother, who held a clerkship in a 
e-tore at Clinton, but meeting with no success here, he 
went on to Boston, where he had an uncle, Samuel 
Bolton, in the boot and shoe business. His uncle had 



D WIGHT L. MOODY. 35 

heard of him as the ringleader of all the mischief at 
Northfield, and did not offer to take him into his store. 
The green farmer hoy was not appreciated in Boston, 
and he soon found out that it was one thing to be a 
leader among t'.ie boys at Northfield, and quite another 
to have any influence in a great city like Boston. At 
the end of a week he was thoroughly discouraged and 
tired out looking for a place. But his pride, although 
hurt, w r as by no means entirely broken, and he made up 
his mind that he would walk to New York and see if 
he could not succeed better. His younger brother, 
Lemuel, who also lived in Boston, at whose house he 
had been staying, asked if he had tried to get a situa- 
tion at his uncle's — referringto Uncle Samuel. "No," 
said the willful boy. "Uncle knows lam here looking 
for a situation, and he may help me or not, as he likes." 
Lemuel gave him some greatly needed sound advice. 
He told him in no very flattering terms that modesty 
was sometimes as necessary as courage, and gained his 
consent to state the case frankly to his Uncle Samuel, 
who, by the way, was a good- hearted sort of a man, 
and rather disposed to help as soon as he saw a chance 
and became convinced that he could safely do so. The 
result was that young Dwight was asked to call and 
his uncle gave him a clerkship in his store upon two 
conditions. First, he must board where his uncle chose 
to have him, and not go out nights into tbo streets or 
to any places of amusement without first securing his 
uncle's consent; and secondly, he must go every Sun- 



36 LIFE AND SERMONS OF 

day to the Mount Vernon Church and regularly attend 
the Sunday-school. This was a wise precaution. Mr. 
Holton had himself come to Boston when about the 
.same age as his nephew now was, and he knew the 
temptations and allurements such a city would offer to 
a young man of the temperament and habits of young 
D wight. He was bound to act conservatively, and 
therefore imposed one more condition, to wit, his 
nephew was to be governed by his uncle's judgment 
rather than by his own while in his employ, which was 
a hint that young Dwight understood, that duty and 
obedience to his superiors would be insisted on, and 
compelled if necessary. 

Dwight was ill fitted for city life, but he was a keen 
observer of human nature, and he soon sold more boots 
and shoes than any other clerk in the establishment. 
But his ungovernable temper and his habit of "pitch- 
ing in" and fighting bis way out sometimes brought 
down the whole establishment in an uproar, and his 
uncle had great difficulty in managing his best sales- 
man. Gradually he became more tractable, and by 
and by, he applied for admission to the Mount Vernon 
Church, where he was kept for six months on probation 
before he was allowed to enter. This came out in a 
characteristic way when, years afterward, as Rev. Dr. 
Savage, of Chicago, informs us, an incident occurred 
during Mr. Moody's second visit to England, at which 
time he took good-natured revenge upon one of the 
deacons who had thus kept him so long from joining 



DWIGET L. MOODY. 37 

the church. It was at one of his great meetings in 
Exeter Hall, and he espied his old friend sitting in a 
corner away back under the gallery. The good man, 
traveling for his health, had seen the notice of the 
meeting, and, partly cut of curiosity to see what the 
man could do, he attended the service, taking a seat 
where he thought Mr. Moody would not see him. But 
just before closing the meeting, to his surprise Mr. 
Moody exclaimed : 

"I see in the house an eminent Christian gentleman 
from Boston. Deacon Palmer, come right forward to 
the platform; the people want to hear fiom you!" 

The deacon shook his head, but Moody was inexora- 
ble; so there was nothing for it but to accept the situ- 
ation and face the audience. He commenced by say- 
ing that he had known Mr. Moody in Boston in early 
life; had been, in fact, a member of the same church 
with him, and was very glad of his great success in the 
service of the Lord ; when Moody suddenly burst out 
with the remark : 

"Yes, deacon, and you kept me out of the church for 
six months because you thought I did not know enough 
to join it." 

The effect of such a speech under such circumstances 
can better be imagined than described. But the 
deacon was too old a speaker to be silenced by such a 
retort, although he found it difficult to be heard on ac- 
count of the laughter which followed it. The audi- 
ence, he said, must agree with him that it was a great 



SB LIFE AND SERMONS OF 

privilege to receive Mr. Moody into their church at all, 
even though with great misgivings and after so long 
delay ! 

HIS EARLY LIFE IN CHICAGO. 

In 1856 Mr. Moody moved from Boston to Chicago, 
where he found a situation as salesman in the boot and 
shoe store of # a Mr. Wis wall. Mr. Wiswall relates of 
him: "I received him at first with great misgivings on 
account of his impetuous and rash manner, but after- 
ward I found these qualities in his case rendered him 
popular with my customers, who rather liked his bluff 
and hearty manner." And he adds, "As a salesman he 
was always the same zealous, faithful and tireless 
worker that he afterward so notably became in reli- 
gion." In those early days in Chicago Mr. E. "W. 
Hawley was associated with him, and it is to him that 
lam indebted for much of the personal intelligence that 
I am able to give from this point. One of Mr. Moody's 
first activities in a religious way after arriving at Chi- 
cago was to hire four entire pews in Plymouth Church, 
of which he was a member, and keep them full of 
young men every Sunday. At the revival and prayer 
meetings he became a leader, and talked with so much 
freedom that even in Chicago, and at that early day, 
he frequently brought himself into trouble. He was as 
thoroughly in earnest in the prayer meetirg as at the 
salesroom, and there was a pungency and directness in 
his exhortations ofttimes that his brethren did not alto- 



D WIGHT L. MOODY. 39 

gether like — especially those who stood nearest the spot 
where the shot struck. Even in his public prayers he 
would sometimes confide secrets and express opinions 
to the Lord in such a confidential and yet open way 
that he was finally advised to confine his attention to 
keeping his four pews filled with young men, and leave 
the speaking and praying to them, or to those who were 
more discreet than he. He did not neglect the four 
pews, but they could not furnish him enough work, and 
he began to attend a Sunday morning class also in 
another church — the First Methodist Church — where he 
could express himself in prayer more to his own mind 
without undue offense. Still finding time upon his 
hands for more work, he found a deserted saloon near 
the North Market and rented it for a Bible class on 
Sundays. In this work the well-known merchant, J. 
V. Farwell, helped and supported him. The place 
swarmed with youth of the vilest habits, so far as drink- 
ing and gambling were concerned, and there were more 
than tw T o hundred such dens of vice in the immediate 
neighborhood. 

This was just the kind of w r ork and the class of 
pupils that young Moody wanted, for he longed, like 
his Master, to save those who were lost. His success 
in this venture was phenomenal, and it was not long 
before the great pressure of pupils demanded more 
room, and by permission of the Mayor his school was 
moved to the great hall over the Old North Market. 

In October, 1871, Chicago w T as visited by a terrible 



40 LIFE AND SERMONS OF 

calamity. The great fire laid in ruins an area four 
miles long and a mile wide. Mr. Moody's home, Farwell 
Hall and his church all went down in the flames. He 
at once went to work to raise funds for a new place to 
hold Gospel services, with the result that he was enabled 
soon to build the new Tabernacle, and in this work he 
was greatly assisted by the good Rev. Dr. Cuyler and 
his people in Brooklyn, as also by Mr. John Wana- 
maker and Mr. George Stuart, of Philadelphia. The 
new Tabernacle was built to occupy an entire block of 
ground, over a hundred feet in length and seventy-five 
in width. The great enclosure was built of rough tim- 
bers and boards in the midst of the burned district. 
The house was filled to overflowing, and its success was 
such that it led to the establishment of the beautiful 
new church which is the crowning success at Chicago 
of this wonderful career of the greatest evangelist of 
modern times. 



D WIGHT L. MOODY. 41 



II. 

HIS ACQUAINTANCE WITH MR. SANKEY. 

Mr. Moody's acquaintance with Ira D. Sankey com- 
menced in this wise. Mr. Moody was leading the reli- 
gious exercises at a Young Men's Christian Association 
at Indianapolis at a prayer meeting appointed for seven 
o'clock in the morning. The meeting was too slow 
and dragged, and not to Mr. Moody's liking, especially 
the singing. Everything was sung in a long meter 
and slow time, and dragged along even worse than the 
rest of the service. It happened just at that time that 
Mr. Sankey entered the room, and one of the elders 
who knew his gift in that direction invited him to lead 
the singing. The result was that the entire tenor of 
the meeting was changed, and what promised to be a 
failure turned out to be a great success. At the close 
of the meeting Mr. Moody at once approached him, and 
his first inquiry was : 

"Where do you reside?" 

" In" Newcastle, Pennsylvania," said Mr. Sankey. 

"I want you." 

"What for?" 

"To help meat Chicago and elsewhere at my work." 
Mr. Moody spoke as one who would take no denial. 



42 LIFE AND SERMONS OF 

"But," said Mr. Sankey, "X do not see how I can 
leave ray business.' 1 

"You are just the man I have been looking for dur- 
ing the last eight years," said Mr. Moody, "and you 
must come. Give up your business, and go back to 
Chicago and work with me." 

The result was, after consulting his wife and those 
with w r hom he was interested in business, he gave up 
his business and cast in his lot with Mr. Moody. They 
held other meetings in Indianapolis, at which Mr. 
Moody preached and Mr. Sankey sang, and the more 
they worked together the better they liked each other, 
and the good results seemed to indicate that it was just 
such a union as was needed to accomplish the most 
good. For an entire week they worked together in 
prayer meetings, in Sunday-schools, in saloons and 
drinking dens, speaking and singing as occasion served; 
and in all these various labors they were themselves 
refreshed and much good was accomplished. This 
was about six months before the great fire, which oc- 
curred in October, 1871. The great calamity which 
overwhelmed that portion of the city where Mr. 
Moody's mission had been located so deranged his 
plans that he went for a tour to the Atlantic coast, and 
Mr. Sankey returned for a time to his family in Penn- 
sylvania. But no sooner was the new Tabernacle 
erected in the midst of the ruins than these two breth- 
ren returned and commenced their work again together, 
taking up their lodgings in ante-rooms of the great 



D WIGHT L. MOODY. 43 

rough buildiog, and giving themselves day and night 
to comforting the bodies and trying to save the souls of 
the unfortunate people who thronged this place of 
refuge. 

During a whole year Mr. Moody and Mr. Sankey 
were busy visiting various localities, preaching and 
singing and leading souls to Christ. Mr. Sankey 's solo 
singing was not wholly an innovation. That "great 
singer,' 5 Philip Phillips, of New York, so well known 
afterward, before his sudden tragic death, as the author 
of many beautiful hymns and tunes, had introduced 
this method some years before Mr. Sankey began to 
sing with Mr. Moody and accompany the preaching 
with his beautiful voice. Many were delighted and 
some were shocked, but the results were evidently ac- 
ceptable to the Lord in the bringing in of souls to the 
kingdom, and so all opposition was hushed, and Mr. 
Sankey was known and appreciated wherever Mr. 
Moody preached. He afterward accompanied this 
great evangelist to Europe. 

SOME INTERESTING CHICAGO INCIDENTS. 

First, however, here are one or two interesting inci- 
dents that happened in Chicago, and which are related 
by Mr. E. W. Hawley, of The Christian Work. 
Mr. Hawley was the secretary of the Young Men's 
Christian Association while Mr. Moody was its presi- 
dent, and as such a constant companion and worker 



44 LIPS AND 8ERM0N8 OF 

with Mr. Moody for fifteen years, and he gives much 
personal information in regard to Mr. Moody. He 
relates numerous interesting incidents, among which 
are the following: 

It will be remembered that during Mr. Moody's early 
labors in Chicago he was called upon to speak in 
Sunday-school conventions, chiefly on account of his 
experience in ways of reaching the masses of neglected 
children in great cities. He knew how to do this thing 
better than any other man in the West, and, in his 
blunt way, he could talk greatly to the instruction and 
sometimes not a little to the amusement of his audience. 
For several years he filled up little niches in the pro- 
gram — willing to do anything, however small, to 
help on the cause of his Master. But in the spring of 
1861 he was thrust to the front on a certain occasion, 
and in the sudden emergency he learned more fully 
how to use the power which had so long been growing 
and slumbering in him. 

The committee of the Sunday-school Convention for 
Bureau County, Illinois, had written to Chicago for 
speakers, and it was arranged that several brethren 
should go down and help them. But when Mr. Moody 
reached the place coming from some other appointment, 
he found that none of the " distinguished speakers from 
Chicago" were on hand, and there was no one to speak 
except his friend, Mr. E. W. Hawley, who, like him- 
self, was reckoned one of the lesser lights in the 
Chicago constellation. Great things were expected 



D WIGHT L. MOOD Y. 45 

from the Chicago men, and an entire afternoon on the 
great day of the meeting had been set apart to hear 
them. "If ever two poor fellows were frightened," 
Mr. Hawley says, "it was Moody and I." 

About two o'clock on a cold March morning they 
reached the city of Princeton, where the convention 
was held. It was too early to sit up and too late to go 
to bed, and so, shivering with cold and trembling un- 
der the load of responsibility thus suddenly laid upon 
them, they took a room, not for sleep, but for prayer. 
During the rest of the night they asked God for power 
and guidance, and in the morning he says "both of us 
felt the smile of heaven warming and gladdening our 
souls." 

The morning session passed off in humdrum style, 
with fussy debate on trifling questions, all of which 
caused Mr. Moody and Mr. Hawley to realize the im- 
portance of giving a more spiritual turn if possible to 
the work of the afternoon. And so, trembling but 
earnestly asking for divine help, they reluctantly 
started for the large church, which they reached in 
due time, and where they were to try and fill the 
places of the "distinguished brethren from Chicago." 
Close to the church was a public schoolroom, which 
Mr. Moody engaged for the afternoon. 

"What do you want that for?" asked his friend. 

"I want it for an inquiry meeting after we get 
through," was Mr. Moody's reply. 

Mr, Moody requested that Mr, Hawley speak first. 



46 LIFE AI7D SERMONS Of 

while he prayed for him ; they were then to change 
places, and Moody was to speak while Hawley prayed ; 
and so the meeting began. A great congregation came 
to hear the ' 'distinguished speakers," but the two young 
men trusted in God and went ahead. 

After Mr. Hawley had spoken for about twenty or 
twenty-five minutes to an attentive and appreciative 
audience, then came Mr. Moody's turn. Soon he had 
the entire audience in tears. He seemed like one in- 
spired, and pictured to them their need of Christ to help 
them. He pointed out to them the awful sin of doing 
their work as Sunday-school teachers in a careless and 
worldly way, and after an address of three-quarters of 
an hour, which seemed almost like a wild mountain 
torrent, he called for those who wanted to find Christ 
now to meet him at once in the schoolroom next door. 

Great numbers of inquirers accepted his invitation, 
and many of them professedly found the Saviour before 
leaving the place. 

This was the beginning of a widespread revival in 
Bureau County; for all the delegates carried the spirit 
of that wonderful meeting home ^ ith them, and gava 
their hearts and hands anew to their work. It was 
also the beginning of a new life for Mr. Moody. He 
had found and taken hold of a hitherto unknown spirit- 
ual power, and from that day he went everywhere re- 
joicing and confident in the strength of God. With 
perfect abandon he threw himself upon Christ and into 
bis subject; and, carried forward irresistibly on the 



D WIGHT L. MOODY. 47 

tides of heavenly love and sympathy, he swept along 
triumphantly, persuading multitudes of penitent sin- 
ners to go along with him, and offering them in prayer 
to the Saviour as trophies of His divine grace and 
power. This way of acting and speaking hy special 
inspiration led him sometimes to do seemingly strange 
things, though afterward they generally proved to be 
useful and right in practice. 

At another time Mr. Hawley relates that upon one 
of his rounds of meetings in the State of Indiana, he was 
riding in the wagon of a quiet Christian brother who 
was taking him to his next appointment, when they 
passed a little schoolhouse which was closed for the 
day. Asking his friend to stop at the dwelling nearest 
to it, he stood up in the wagon and hailed the house. 
A woman came to the door, and Mr. Moody asked if 
there were any religious meetings held in that school- 
house. 

" No, indeed," answered the woman, "we haven't 
any meetings anywhere about here." 

"Well," said Mr. Moody, "tell all your neighbors 
that there will be prayer meetings in that schoolhouse 
every night next week." 

At the next house they found the teacher of the 
school, to whom he gave the same announcement, and 
asked her to send the notice by all her scholars, which 
she seemed well pleased to do. 

As they rode on, the brother who was conveying him 
seemed lost in amazement. He knew that this strange 



48 LIFE AND SERMONS OF 

man had a long list of appointments in advance, and 
could not personally attend those meetings he was giv- 
ing out. At length he said : 

"Mr. Moody, you are telling all these people that 
there are going to be prayer meetings in that school- 
house every night next week. Who is going to conduct 
them?" 

"You are," said Mr. Moody. 

"I?" said the man in astonishment. "I never did 
such a thing in my life." 

"It's time you did, then," said Moody. "I have 
made the appointment and you will have to keep it." 

Thrust out into the work in this strange manner, the 
good brother actually went and conducted the meetings. 
They filled the little scboolhouse to overflowing, and 
resulted in a great revival of religion throughout all 
that neglected country. 

It was during Mr. Moody's work at Chicago that the 
Civil War occurred, and one of the greatest marvels of 
those days was a genuine revival of religion among 
the Rebel prisoners — about ten thousand of whom had 
been taken at Fort Donelson, and brought to Camp 
Douglas, which was transformed from a camp of in- 
struction into a prison. Mr. Moody was impressed 
with the thought that these poor men needed the means 
of grace fully as much as the Union soldiers; but to 
gain access to them was a matter of extreme difficulty. 
One day he succeeded in obtaining a permit to visit 
them as a clergyman, which he gave to the secretary of 



DWiGirr l. Moody. 49 

the Young Men's Christian Association, his friend, 
Mr. Hawley, and as it was toward evening took along 
a can of kerosene oil "to light up with," hoping that 
in the capacity of a servant he might be allowed to 
pass the guard along with his more clerical looking 
friend. But the guard would not let him in, and it 
was of no use, though Mr. Moody exhibited his can of 
oil, and declared that he was going with the other gen- 
tleman simply "to help along the meeting." Ho 
would not take a refusal, although at the point of the 
bayonet, and at length the earnest discussion was over- 
heard by an officer, who came up to see what was the 
matter, and recognizing Mr. Moody, took him to head- 
quarters, vouched for his being "all right," and ob- 
tained a pass for him to go in and hold meetings with 
the prisoners as often as he liked. Soon, to Mr. Haw- 
ley's great joy, he rejoined his friend, "the clergyman," 
in the prison. They announced the purpose of their 
visit, and the men, being both surprised and pleased, 
crowded around them, while they read the Scriptures, 
exhorted and prayed. 



50 LIFE AND SERMONS OF 



III. 
MR. MOODY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 

In 1872, Mr. Moody, with his family and Mr. 
Sankey, left for Great Britain. At first he was not ap- 
preciated. It was at Newcastle-upon-Tyne that Mr. 
Moody may be said to have commenced with the deter- 
mination of setting himself right and conquering the 
prejudices against him upon the Continent. He had 
been continually hindered and hampered during his 
first visit, and all along up to the present time in bring- 
ing the message of the Gospel before the people by a 
want of confidence, especially among the ministers. 
In fact, he himself admitted that they had not done 
much in York and Sunderland " because the ministers 
opposed us." But he declared they were going to "stay 
right here in Newcastle-upon-Tyne" until they had 
succeeded in living down not only the prejudices of the 
clergy, but of all good people who did not seem to un- 
derstand them. 

He was assisted in this respect greatly by the pastor 
of the John Knox Presbyterian Church, Rev. Dr. Lowe, 
who had heard Mr. Moody in Sunderland and other 
places, and who was very favorably impressed with 



D WIGHT L. MOODY. 51 

him. He happened at one time to come into the meet- 
ing at the very moment Mr. Moody was directing many 
inquirers into a separate room for personal conference. 

Mr. Moody always remembered a face, and he instantly 
called out to his friend, the Presbyterian pastor, "Here, 
Brother Lowe, go in and talk to all those inquirers. 
There are a good many of them, and you will have to 
talk to them as you would to a little congregation of 
your own." This introduction was especially fortunate 
both for Dr. Lowe and also for Mr. Moody, and as 
soon as he had finished his work in Sunderland, Dr. 
Lowe arranged that Mr. Moody should commence his 
labors at Xewcastle-upon-Tyne. 

In accordance with this arrangement five of the prin- 
cipal chapels of the old town were immediately placed 
at Mr. Moody's disposal, and meetings were held in all 
of them during the first week, sometimes in one and at 
other times in two or three at the same time, but the 
audiences were not large until Mr. Moody finally 
secured the Eye Hill Baptist Chapel, which is im- 
mense, although the attendance there at that time was 
usually very small. Soon this great chapel was 
filled, and vast crowds began to be turned away for 
want of room, until they became so great and the reli- 
gious activity so intense that it seemed almost impossi- 
ble to accommodate them all. Indeed, the impression 
which Mr. Moody made during that visit in New- 
castle-upon-Tyne was far-reaching, and extended out 
among the villages and over the country for a great 



52 LIFE AND BEKMOm OF 

distance in every direction. In Newcastle-upon-TynG 
the result of this visit of Moody and Sankey was elec- 
tric. The prayer meetings were completely changed in 
character and interest. One of those who witnessed this 
change tells us that there was nothing so remarkable 
in this entire revival at Newcastle-upon-Tyne as the 
utter demolishing of the old-fashioned prayer meetings 
and their methods, and the substitution of the evangel- 
istic form. 

AT FREE ASSEMBLY HALL, EDINBURGH. 

The news of the great work at Newcastle-upon-Tyne 
spread like wildfire throughout Scotland, and awakened 
the greatest possible interest, especially at Edinburgh, 
which, as is well known, is the center of Scottish reli- 
gious life. Mr. Moody received from some of the 
clerg} 7 an invitation to come and hold meetings in that 
great city — the capital of Scotland. He said to him- 
self, "What good can such a man as I am do among 
those great doctors of divinity and noted divines?" But 
he went right forward, and after holding services in 
several of the churches, the great Assembly Hall was 
thrown open to him, and one of the most wonderful 
series of meetings were held there that Mr. Moody has 
ever been privileged to hold anywhere. The whole 
populace were soon talking about Mr. Moody's preach- 
ing and Mr. Sankey's singing; and by the way, the 
latter was quite as much of an innovation among these 
old Scotch worshipers as the former. In some quar- 



D WIG nT L. MOODY. 53 

ters at first there was decided opposition manifested, as 
the singing was not in accordance with the old Scottish 
custom and traditions. Bat few of the psalms were 
sung, and some of Mr. Sankey's singing was in a style 
which reminded one of other and less religious places 
than the churches and customary places of worship. 
But worse than all was that abominable and sinful 
"KistfiC o' whistles" with which Mr. Sau key accom- 
panied his voice, and which had been voted down and 
out of all the churches for hundreds of years. This 
was an innovation which it was at first exceedingly 
hard to tolerate, and more than one gray-haired elder, 
when they sang the well-known words, 

' ' Oh, may my heart in tune be found, 
Like David's harp of solemn sound," 

was shocked beyond measure by the instrumental ac- 
companiment, and felt like the good Scottish brother 
whose chorister attempted to introduce a violin in his 
service without permission, and who even ventured to 
modestly suggest that if Watts and David had only 
been up to date, the hymn would probably have read : 

" Oh, may my heart be tuned within, 
Like David's sacred violin." 

Instantly the aforesaid good old brother quietly sug- 
gested this further amendment as being more "up to 
date," and hence more appropriate: 

" Oh, may my heart go diddle, diddle, 
Take Uncle David's old red fiddle," 



54 LIFE AND SERMONS OF 

But even a Scotchman is, after all, merely a creature 
of habit, and it is wonderful how soon the most preju- 
diced yielded and came to like the "new style" of 
singing at these evangelistic meetings of Moody and 
Sankey. In spite of all their prejudices they were con- 
vinced that the good work was genuine, and so they 
prayed, "God bless Scotland and make these evangel- 
ists from America helpful in awakening a revival of 
true religion." The same glorious victory Mr. Moody 
had achieved in Newcastle-upon-Tyne was destined to 
be experienced here in Edinburgh, and the great gath- 
erings of Assembly Hall grew more and more in favor 
each day and increased in numbers and in spiritual 
power. 

At Glasgow the great Kibble Crystal Palace in the 
Botanic Gardens was utilized for Mr. Moody's meet- 
ings, and although it will comfortabl}' seat six thousand, 
it was not only constantly filled to overflowing, but 
the platform was often full of Scotland's most eminent 
men from among the clergy and evangelists from every 
direction and all denominations. The last meeting 
was one of the most memorable that ever took place 
upon the Continent. The Palace could not begin to 
contain the crowd that came, and when Mr. Moody 
arrived the vast throng was estimated at fully fifty 
thousand people. Mr. Moody, always quick in an 
emergency, determined not to alight from his carriage, 
but was driven to as near the center of the crowd as 
possible, and stood in his carriage while he preached 



D WIGHT L. MOODY. 55 

to the multitudes. Even at this disadvantage, Mr. 
Sankey's clear voice was heard by nearly all as he sang 
that beautiful hymn commencing "Nothing but 
leaves." At the close of Mr, Moody's sermon he asked 
all earnest inquirers after the better life to meet them 
in the Palace, and the great building was completely 
filled with those who wished for prayers and spiritual 
conversation and advice. 

We have not room here to speak of Mr. Moody's 
great work in Ireland, but at Belfast, Londonderry and 
at Dublin the scenes we have described in Scotland were 
enacted over again. At Dublin the large Exhibition 
Hall was not large enough to contain those who wished 
to hear him, w^hile the great mass meetings in the open 
air will be long remembered by those who attended 
them. His motto was "All Ireland for Christ," and 
it seemed as if all Ireland was stirred from center to 
circumference by the wonderful power that accompa- 
nied Mr. Moody's preaching. 

In March, 1875, Mr. Moody commenced his great 
work in London. In the north quarter of London, the 
single point of Islington contained at that time about 
three or four hundred thousand souls. The largest 
structure there is the great Agricultural Hall, and un- 
der its immense roof of iron and glass Mr. Moody found 
just such a spacious inclosure as he wanted. His con- 
gregations there were limited only by the possibility of 
hearing the preaching and the singing, and every avail- 
able seat near the platform was occupied long before 
the services commenced. — From Christian Work. 



56 LIFE AND SERMONS OF 



IV. 

MR. MOODY'S LIFE-WORK FOR THE 
MASTER. 

When D wight Lyman Moodj~ set out as a young man 
on what became his life-mission he was told by well- 
meaning friends that he could do better work for the 
Lord than to try to talk for Him, as moving eloquence 
would never be his. Rhetorical eloquence never was 
his, but simple language and ready anecdote made him 
for a generation one of the most powerful men of speech 
for the Christian Church in this country, and made 
him known far beyond it. He leaves no full successcr 
in the evangelistic field, none whose methods, manner 
and influence form a counterpart of those that gave 
him the peculiar pow r er which he wielded for so many 
years over people in and out of the churches. The per- 
manence of his influence over individuals who in large 
numbers were affected by him has been disputed, but 
he always declared that wherever he went in recent 
years he met people who came to him and told him of 
their conversion at his meetings in former years. 

Simple speech was Moody's strength. Short, common 
words he used always. He was not a finished speaker, 



D WIG HT L. MOODY. 57 

and he did net eveu let a lapse in grammar bother him 
at all, but his direct words, ready illustrations, his 
earnestness and his emotional intensity mado groat 
crowds listen to him with rapt attention. He per- 
suaded those emotionally susceptible to go to the peni- 
tent bench. If his listeners were already in the church, 
he filled them with desire to do something more than 
they had been doing. A nervous vibrancy in his voice 
accentuated this power. He spoke rapidly, more than 
two hundred w 7 ords a minute sometimes, yet he never 
seemed to be talking fast, and he changed his subject, 
or the phases of it, and followed exhortation with 
incident so abruptly and so frequently, that he kept 
his auditors constantly on the alert. Onco an emo- 
tional chord was struck in the audience he seemed to 
know it at once, and w r hile keeping up the play of his 
quick changes he never ceased to play directly upon 
that chord until women sometimes wept and men were 
shaken. The unbelieving sometimes succumbed and 
sometimes arose and left the hall. He did not seek to 
expound doctrine. He sought to show that Christianity 
was the best thing on earth, and that the people he was 
talking to ought to have it. He held out heaven as the 
greatest thing to come, and reasoned backward that 
there must be its opposite. He didn't always call it 
hell in late years. 

" A young man came to me after one of the meetings 
in the old Hippodrome and said he believed the Chris- 
tian way was best, but he couldn't come out and take 



58 LIFE AND SERMONS OF 

it," Mr. Moody said, " because his roommate — he 
boarded over in Twenty-first Street there — would laugh 
at him. He came to me two or three times and finally 
promised to go home and talk to his roommate. He 
found him reading the Bible. The roommate had been 
to the meetings, too. That man is a happy man now 
and knows he did right. Isn't it worth while to be 
courageous?'' 

Mr. Moody would not push the point, but would turn 
to some other illustration or incident. 

' ' Heaven is a city like New York. I believe that. 
And if there is a heaven there must be an opposite 
place — call it hell, or perdition, or whatever you like. 
There's no road without two ends. If heaven is one 
end, where is the other? If I see a man doing wrong I 
know he's not going the same way I'm going. It's 
settled in my mind that heaven is a place of joy. And 
do you think that a carnal man is going to heaven? 
Can death change him? Oh, no! It is only those who 
will now follow the right path that will enter heaven. 
We shall see our friends there and we'll have the 
angels and cherubim and seraphim. Oh, we'll have 
select company in heaven." 

Such was the evangelist's familiar talk at the big 
meetings he addressed. Once in a while he would be 
epigrammatic. 

6 'I'll wait till Thanksgiving before telling whether 
the meetings are successful. Then if there are plenty 
of turkeys traveling from the homes of the rich to the 



D WIGHT L. MOODY. 59 

homes of the very poor, and if there is charity and love 
in abundance, I will say that they have been successful." 

Sometimes Moody spoke very plainly of evils he 
wished to break up. My experience has taught me that 
you don't want to put on gloves when you are handling 
sin," he said, " because then you can't feel." 

One of the practical phases of Mr. Moody's character 
was reflected in his avowal that a man's duty to take 
care of his family was ahead of his duty to the church. 
His simplicity of speech was backed by a simplicity of 
ideas that sometimes was startling. During a visit to 
this city w r hile "Quo Vadis" was being read by every- 
body, a Roman Catholic priest called upon Mr. Moody 
at his invitation to discuss a scheme of work along 
lines in which both were interested. A copy of "Quo 
Vadis" lay on the table and the priest remarked that he 
was glad the evangelist was reading "that excellent 
book." 

"Oh, my!" Moody exclaimed. "I'm not reading it. 
Some one sent it to my wife and when she found 
what an awful book it was she told me and said she 
was going to throw it into the waste basket. I said 
no, that the servants might get it then, so I would take 
it and see that it was burned." 

"Don't do that," said the priest, "give it to me." 

"Well/' said Mr. Moody, "you may have it." 

"I suppose," said the priest in telling the storj*, 
"that he thought I was as w 7 rong as I could be already." 

That Mr. Moody was sincere the priest, who is a 



60 LIFE AND SERMONS OF 

widely known man here, did not doubt, though he 
spoke jocularly, but the evangelist's impulsiveness 
amused him twice on that occasion. At the beginning 
of his call Mr. Moody had suggested that they kneel 
down and praj r . Now, by the church's ruling a priest 
ma} r not pray with a heretic, but he may, of course, 
have a heretic pray with him. "So I 'flopped,' " said 
the father, "having to think quick, and began the 
Lord's Prayer before he could get started; then we got 
on very well." 



D WIGHT L. MOODY. 01 



THE SIMPLICITY OF HIS METHODS— HIS 
ABOUNDING FAITH. 

He visited England in 1867, but little was heard of 
his visit. He returned to Chicago, and in 1873 he took 
up with Ira D. Sankey, and the fame of the two began. 

Mr. Sankey wanted to start a music store, and some 
church people were ready to help him. Mr. Moody 
sent for him, told him he was going to the British Isles 
on an evangelizing tour, and wanted him to go along 
and sing at the meetings, and that he would give him 
one hundred and twenty-five dollars a month to do so. 
Mr. Sankey accepted the offer. Mr. Moody hadn't any 
money, but the singer didn't know it. With a confi- 
dence that would be good capital in Wall Street promot- 
ing circles, Mr. Moody went about talking of his in- 
tended trip to England. John V. Farwell called on 
him, and Mr. Moody talked to him just as though he 
was going. As a matter of fact, he had sent Mr. 
Sankey to his (Sankey's) home in Pennsylvania, tell- 
ing him to visit his parents before the tour, when he 
hadn't money enough to make the tour. Mr. Farwell, 
at the close of his call, and of Mr. Moody's talk, 
handed the evangelist five hundred dollars for fear he 
might not have enough money for the expenses of the 



62 LIFE AND SERMONS OF 

tour. Mr. Moody took the money, sent for Sankey, and 
they started. 

Their tour was a triumphal progress. The Scotch 
burst forth with enthusiastic praise of Moody's earnest- 
ness, and offered him money which he would not take. 
One purse offered him he induced the donors to give to 
Major Whittle, who was only waiting to have his debts 
paid to devote himself to evangelistic work. From 
city to city in Scotland, England and Ireland, Moody 
and Sankey went, stirring up the people in religious 
"awakenings" of so extraordinary a character that 
their reputations became world-wide. They came 
back here in 1875 and held meetings all over the coun- 
try, that were attended by thousands. One of the earli- 
est of the meetings was in what is now Madison Square 
Garden. 

The Moody and Sankey book of sacred songs was pub- 
lished, and the proceeds from that have been estimated 
at between three hundred thousand and four hun- 
dred thousand dollars. Moody forced his partner 
to agree to renounce the profits of the work, as he did, 
and they were turned over to a committee, of which 
William E. Dodge was a member, to be used for reli- 
gious work. 

Mr. Moody was always reticent about financial 
affairs, but freely said that he would not have to be 
buried at public expense, and that this was a land in 
which any one who worked could make a living. As 
to the receipts of the big meetings held in this city, he 



D WIGHT L. MOODY. 63 

said that he got none, although some friend sent him 
one hundred dollars for his personal expenses, and that 
he was satisfied if the collections paid the rent of the 
hall. On his sixtieth birthday friends in England and 
this country presented him with thirty thousand dollars 
to build a chapel at Northfield. All his life he had a 
faculty for interesting people of means in his enterprise. 
He began the work of organizing the Northfield school 
for the religious, industrial and general education of 
girls and boys in 1879, and latterly thousands of people 
have attended the general conferences held there in the 
summer. He has succeeded in putting up twenty 
buildings there. Besides these buildings, he is credited 
with having built or with having been instrumental in 
securing the construction of a church and a Bible Insti- 
tute at Chicago, Y. M. C. A. buildings in New York, 
Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, Scranton and Bal- 
timore, and buildings for Christian work in Edinburgh, 
Glasgow, Dublin, Stratford, Liverpool and London. 

Mr. Moody was a firm believer in the power of prayer 
and the literal language of the Bible. He declared that 
the steamship Spree, which w ? as rendered helpless in 
mid-ocean several years ago, was saved as a result of 
the prayer meeting organized by General 0. 0. How- 
ard and himself on board, and in which all the passen- 
gers joined. He was optimistic, and said that the last 
years of his life were better than any that had preceded 
them, and that the world was better now than ever be- 
fore, with the best always "just ahead," 



64 LIFE AND SERMONS OF 



VI. 



THE FAMOUS EVANGELIST PASSES PEACE- 
FULLY AWAY AT EAST NORTHFIELD— 
HIS LAST WORDS "GOD IS CALLING ME*' 
—COMFORTING HIS FAMILY GATHERED 
AT HIS BEDSIDE. 

With the words "God is calling me," Dwight L. 
Moody, the evangelist, whose fame was world-wide, 
fell asleep in death at his home at noon, December 22, 
1899. The passing of his spirit from a body which 
had been tortured with pain for some weeks to the rest 
beyond was as gentle as could be wished for. His 
family were gathered at the bedside, and the dying 
man's last moments were spent in comforting them and 
in contemplation of that reward for which he had so 
long and earnestly labored. He knew that death was 
near, but its sting to him was lost. Besides the fam- 
ily, there were present also Drs. Schofield and Wood 
and the nurse. 

Early in the day Mr. Moody realized that the end 
was not far off and talked with his family at intervals, 
being conscious to the last, except for a few fainting 



D WIGHT L. MOODY. 65 

spells. Once he revived and with wonderful display of 
strength in his voice, said in a happy strain: 

"What's the matter? What's going on here?" 

One of the children replied : "Father, you have not 
been quite so well, and so we came in to see you." 

A little later Mr. Moody talked quite freely to his 
sons, saying: "I have always been an ambitious man, 
not ambitious to lay up wealth, but to leave you work 
to do; and you are going to continue the work of the 
schools at East iSTorthfield and Mount Hermon and of 
the Chicago Bible Institute." 

Once the stillness of the chamber was broken by the 
anguished cry of Mrs. A. P. Fitt, his daughter, in the 
words: "Father, we can't spare you." The reply, so 
characteristic of the man, was: <( I am not going to 
throw my life away. If God has more work for me to 
do, I'll not die." 

THE APPROACH OF DEATH. 

As the noonday hour drew near the watchers at the 
bedside noted the approach of death. Several times his 
lips moved as if in prayer, but the articulation was so 
faint that the words could not be heard. Just as death 
came Mr. Moody awoke as if from slumber, and said 
with much joyousness: "I see earth receding. Heaven 
is opening. God is calling me." 

The death of Mr. Moody was not unexpected, 
although hope for his temporary recovery from illness 
was entertained not only by friends near at hand, but 



66 *IFE AND SERMONS OF 

by those who had listened to his words and teachings 
on both continents. In the family, however, there was 
fear that death was not a long way off. The cause of 
death was a general breaking down of his health, due 
to overwork. His constitution was that of an exceed- 
ingly strong man, but his untiring labors had gradually 
undermined his vitality, until that most delicate of or- 
gans, the heart, showed signs of weakness. His exer- 
tions in the West last month brought on the crisis, and 
the collapse came during the series of meetings at Kan- 
sas City. 

An early diagnosis by specialists made it evident 
that Mr. Moody's condition w 7 as serious, and, cancel- 
ing his engagements, he returned to his home in East 
Northfield, so near the greatest achievements of his 
later life. On reaching his home the family physi- 
cian, Dr. N. P. Wood, took charge of Mr. Moody, and 
for some days bulletins as to the patient's condition 
were issued, all having an encouraging tone seemingly, 
but unerringly pointing to the fact that the evangelist's 
work on earth was about finished; and in a few days a 
change for the worse prepared immediate friends for 
what was to come. 

KNEW HE WAS DYING. 

Mr. Moody had improved steadily until the day 
before his death, when he appeared very nervous. This 
symptom was accompanied by weakness, which much 
depressed the family, who were anxiously watching 



D WIGHT L. MOODY. 67 

the sufferer. ' Mr. Moody appeared to realize that he 
could uot recover, and so he informed his family. 

During the night the patient had spells of extreme 
weakness, and at two o'clock in the morning Dr. 
Wood was called at the request of Mr. Moody, in or- 
der that his symptoms might be noted. A hypodermic 
injection of strychnia caused the heart to become 
stronger. Then Mr. Moody requested his son-in-law, 
Mr. Pitt, and Dr. Wood to retire. Mr. Moody's eldest 
son, Will R. Moody, who had been sleeping the first of 
the night, spent the last half w T ith his father. 

At 7 : 30 o'clock in the morning Dr. Wood was 
called, and w T hen he reached Mr. Moody's room he 
found his patient in a semi-conscious condition. Then 
it was that the family were called to the bedside, where 
they remained until death came. 



68 LIFE AND SERMONS OF 



VII. 

A NATION MOURNS FOR MOODY— THOU- 
SANDS ATTEND THE FUNERAL SER- 
VICES AND LISTEN TO THE ELOQUENT 
EULOGIES BY DISTINGUISHED CHRIS- 
TIAN LEADERS— A LAST LOOK AT 
THE DEAD— SIMPLE CEREMONIES AT 
THE GRAVE ON ROUND TOP, EAST 
NORTHFIELD. 

Beneath the sod of tree-crowned Round Top, in 
East Northfield, the graceful mound from whose sum- 
mit he has so often delivered the precious invitation of 
that Gospel he loved so well, lies all that is mortal of 
Dwight L. Moody. On Tuesday, December 2Gth, with 
simple yet solemn ceremonial, and amid many mani- 
festations of grief, the body of the century's greatest 
evangelist was committed to the grave, to await the 
resurrection. 

The day of the funeral opened clear and cold, with a 
bright sun somewhat tempering the keen December air. 
Preparations had been made for an early service at the 
Moody home to precede the removal of the body to the 
church, where it was to lie in state for several hours 



D WIGHT L. M001 09 

before the public funeral. Accordingly, the service was 
held at nine a.m., only the immediate family and rela- 
tives and a few intimate friends and associates of the 
deceased being present. Rev. Dr. C. I. Scofield read 
selections from the Scriptures, and Rev. Dr. R. A. 
Tcrrey, of the Chicago Bible Institute, offered prayer. 
Friends then viewed the body, after which the family 
were for a short time left alone with their beloved 
dead. When they had retired, the remains w 7 ere placed 
in a casket of simple design, black-covered and open at 
full length. This was laid upon an oblong bier, heavily 
draped in black, which was carried to the church by 
thirty-two stalwart, young Northfield students, divided 
into four relays of eight each. As they w T ere about to 
raise the bier to their shoulders, Mr. Fitt — Mr. Moody's 
son-in-law — sprinkled white roses about the casket. 

THE CORTEGE TO THE CHURCH. 

Drs. Scofield and Torrey led the procession, which left 
the Moody residence at 10:30 a.m. Immediately be- 
hind the bier, walking by twos, came these honorary 
pall-bearers: Ira D. Sankey and George C. Stebbins, 
R. C. Morse and D. W. McWilliams, Rev. W. J. 
Herdman and Rev. Dr. George C. ISTeedham. As the 
cortege moved from the house, the dead evangelist's 
eldest son, w r ho stood bareheaded on the lawn, gave 
way to his grief, and leaned up against a tree, w T hile 
his frame shook with emotion. 

On the Congregational Church being reached, the 



70 LIFE AND SERMONS OF 

body was placed in front of the pulpit and the casket 
lid removed. Then followed a remarkable scene, last- 
ing several hours, and showing more than words could 
express the wonderful hold the great evangelist had 
upon the hearts of the people. From far and near, in 
carriages and afoot, came hundreds to attend the fune- 
ral and pay the last tribute to him who had been their 
spiritual monitor for nearly a lifetime. 

It is estimated that there w r ere probably not less than 
three thousand persons in and around the building dur- 
ing the services. Professors from the Northfield schools 
stood at either end of the casket, and the throng of 
mourners filed slowly past, reverentially viewing the 
face of the dead. The features were calm and showed 
no evidence of suffering. Mr. Moody lay like one in a 
peaceful slumber. He was clad in his accustomed 
dress, and the lips seemed as if about to speak to the 
sorrowing multitude. 

A little after two p.m. the doors of the church were 
closed to permit of the final preparations for the pub- 
lic service. Very simple were the floral decorations in 
the church. The galleries were trimmed with ever- 
greens, and several fragrant tributes lay beside the 
coffin. At the head of the casket was a pillow of green 
with a crown of white roses interwoven, and a purple 
ribbon across the whole, on which were Mr. Moody's 
last words, "God is calling me." At the foot of the 
casket was a floral design of the open Bible, the left- 
hand page with the inwrought words, "Victory, 



D WIGHT L. MOOD Y. 71 

1 Cor. 15: 56-57," and the opposite page, "2 Tim. 4: 
7-8." There were wreaths of palm and of laurel, 
sprays of roses, and sheaves of wheat, all gifts from the 
teachers and pupils of the Moody Institutes and from 
dear friends. An occasional ray of the clear> white 
winter sunlight stealing in through the church windows 
gave an added beauty to the fragrant offerings. 

A VAST AUDIENCE OF MOURNERS. 

At 2 :15 the family left the Moody residence, and on 
reaching the church, Mrs. Moody, escorted by her eldest 
son, Will R. Moody, was the first to enter. Then came 
Mrs. Fitt, attended by her brother, Paul Moody, Mrs. 
W. R. Moody and Mr. Fitt and the other members of 
the household. In the center of the church seats had 
been reserved for the family and relatives, and immedi- 
ately behind them were the members of the various 
Northfield and Chicago institutions founded by Mr. 
Moody. At one side of the platform were seated the 
young women of the Northfield Seminary and on the 
other side the young men, the relatives sitting between. 
All the galleries were filled to overflowing with the 
general public. On the platform were seated Rev. Dr, 
H. G. Weston, of Crozier Theological Seminary; Rev. 
Dr. George C. Needham, of Philadelphia; Rev. Dr. A. 
C. Dixon, of Brooklyn, New York; Rev. Dr. H. M. 
Wharton, of Baltimore; Rev. Franklin S. Hatch, of 
Monson; Rev. Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman, of New York 



?2 LIFfi AND SERMONS OF 

City; S. H. Hadley, of New York City; Eev. Dr. A. 
T. Pierson, of Brooklyn, New York. ; Eev. E. A. Tor- 
rey, of Chicago, Illinois; Payson Hammond, of Con- 
necticut; John Wanamaker, of Philadelphia, and 
Eev. David Allen Eeed, of Springfield. 

After the opening hymn, "A Little While," which 
was sung by the congregation, led by Prof. A. J. Phil- 
lips, and an invocation by Eev. Dr. Scofield, the^Scrip- 
ture lesson was read by Eev. Dr. A. T. Pierson, the 
portion selected being 2 Cor. 4: 11, and subsequent 
verses. Eev. George C. Needham led in prayer, and 
the entire audience joined in singing "Emanuel's 
Land." Then followed addresses by Eevs. Dr. Sco- 
field, Weston and Torrey; Bishop W. F. Mallalieu, 
Eev. Dr. Chapman, Eev. Dr. Pierson and John "Wana- 
maker, followed by a brief closing address by Will E % 
Moody. 

REV. DR. SCOFIELD'S EULOGY. 

It is only possible in these pages to give the merest 
outline of the addresses, all of which were marked by 
deep feeling and earnest eloquence. Eev. Dr. Scofield, 
Mr Moody's home pastor, at the conclusion of his 
Scripture lesson (which he took from 2. Cor. 5), deliv- 
ered a most beautiful and impressive eulogj r . He said : 

" 'We know.' 'We are always confident.' That 
is the Christian attitude toward the mystery of death. 
We are confident, and willing rather to be absent from 
the body, and to be at home with the Lord. And this is 



DWIGHT L. MOODY. 73 

the Christian doctrine of death. We know ; we are 
always confident. In this triumphant assurance 
Dwight L. Moody lived, and at high noon last Friday, 
he died. We are not met, dear friends, to mourn a 
defeat, but to celebrate a triumph. 'He walked with 
God, and he was not, for God took him.' There in 
the West, in the presence of great audiences of twelve 
thousand of his fellow-men, God spoke to him to lay it 
all down and come home. He would have planned it 
so. This is not the place nor am I the man to present a 
study of the life and character of Dwight L. Moody. 
No one will ever question that we are to-day laying in 
the kindly bosom of the earth the mortal body of a 
great man. 

" Whether we measure greatness by qualities of char- 
acter, by qualities of intellect, or by things alone, 
Dwight L. Moody must be accounted great. The basis 
of Mr. Moody's character was sincerity, genuineness. 
He had an inveterate aversion to all forms of sham, un- 
reality and pretense. Most of all did he detest reli- 
gious pretense and cant. Along with this fundamental 
quality, Mr. Moody cherished a great love of righteous- 
ness. His first question concerning any proposed 
action was, 'Is it right?' But those two qualities 
necessarily at the bottom of all noble character, were 
in him suffused and transfigured by divine grace. 
Beside ail this, Mr. Moody was in a wonderful degree 
brave, magnanimous and unselfish. Doubtless this 
unlettered New England country boy became what he 



?4 LIFE AND SERMONS OF 

was by the grace of God. The secret of Dwight L. 
Moody's power lay: First, in a definite experience of 
Christ's saving grace. He had passed out of death 
into life, and he knew it. Secondly, Mr. Moody be- 
lieved in the divine authority of the Scriptures. The 
Bible was to him the voice of God, and he made it 
resound as such in the consciences of men. Thirdly, 
he was baptized with the Holy Spirit and knew that 
he was. It was to him as definite an experience as his 
conversion. Fourthly, he was a man of prayer. He 
believed in a living and unfettered God. But, fifthly, 
Mr. Moody believed in work, in ceaseless effort, in wise 
provision, in the power of organization, of publicity. 
I like to think of Dwight L. Moody in heaven. I like 
to think of him with his Lord, and with Elijah, 
Daniel, Paul, Augustine, Luther, Wesley and Finney. 
"Farewell, for a little time, great heart! May a 
double portion of the spirit be vouchsafed to us who re- 



main." 



BISHOP MALLALIEU'S TRIBUTE. 

Bishop Mallalieu, of the Methodist Church, full of 
years and dignity, paid a glowing tribute to the dead 
evangelist. Among other things he said : 

" I first met and became acquainted with him, whose 
death we mourn, in London, in the summer of 1875. 
From that day, when he moved the masses of the 
world's metropolis to the hour when he answered the 
call of God to come up higher, I have known him, 



D WIGHT L. MOODY. 75 

esteemed him and loved him. Surely, we may now 
say, that in his death one of the truest, bravest, purest 
and most influential men of this wonderful nineteenth 
century has passed to his rest and his reward. With 
feelings of unspeakable loss and desolation, we gather 
about the casket that contains all that was mortal of 
Dwight L. Moody. 

" And yet what a mighty uplift and inspiration must 
come to each one of us as we think of his character and 
his achievements, for he was 



One who never turned his back, but marched breast forward, 

Never doubted clouds would break, 

Never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would triumph. 



"In bone and brawn and brain he was a typical New 
Englander; he was descended from the choicest New 
England stock; he was born of a New England mother, 
and from his earliest life he breathed the free air of his 
native hills and was carefully nurtured in the knowl- 
edge of God and the holy traditions and histories of the 
glorious past. It was to be expected of him that he 
would be a Christian of pronounced characteristics, for 
he consecrated himself thoroughly and completely and 
irrevocably to the service of God and humanity. The 
heart of no disciple of the Master ever beat with more 
genuine, sympathetic and utterly unselfish loyalty than 
did this great heart. Because he held fast to the abso- 
lute truth of the Bible, and unequivocably and intensely 



?6 LIFE AND SERMONS OV 

believed it to be theunerrant Word of God; because be 
preached the Gospel rather than talked about the Gos- 
ple; because he used his mother tongue, the terse, 
clear, ringing, straightforward Saxon ; because he had 
the profoundest sense of brotherhood with all poor, un- 
fortunate and even outcast people; because he was un- 
affectedly tender and patient with the weak and sinful; 
because he hated evil as thoroughly a3 he loved good- 
ness; because he knew just how to lead penitent souls 
tc the Saviour; because he had the rare and happy art 
of arousing Christian people to the performance of their 
duties; because he had in his own soul a conscious, 
joyous experience of personal salvation, the people 
flocked to his services, they heard him gladly, thej r 
were led to Christ, and he came to be prized and hon- 
ored by all denominations, so that to-day all Protest- 
antism recognizes the fact that he was God's servant, 
an ambassador of Christ, and, indeed, a chosen vessel 
to bear the name of Jesus to the nations. 

" We shall not again behold his manly form, ani- 
matsd with life; hear his thrilling voice, or be moved by 
his consecrated personality; but if we are true and faith- 
ful to our Lord, we shall see him in glory, for already 
he walks the streets of the heavenly city; he mingles 
in the song of the innumerable company of white-robed 
saints, sees the King in His beauty, and awaits our 
coming. May God grant that in due time we may 
meet him over yonder." 



I) WIGHT L. MOODY. 77 

PROFESSOR TORREY'S ADDRESS. 

Professor R. A. Torrey, of the Bible Institute, Chi- 
cago, said in part: 

"God wonderfully magnified his grace in the life of 
D. L. Moody. God was magnified in his birth. The 
babe that was born sixty-two years ago — that wonder- 
ful soul was God's gift to the world. How much that 
meant to the world ; how much the world has been 
blessed and benefited by it, we shall never know this 
side of the coming of Christ. God's grace was magni- 
fied in his conversion. He was born in sin, as we are, 
but God, by the power of his Word, the regenerating 
power of his Holy Spirit, made him a mighty man of 
God. How much the conversion of that boy in Boston, 
forty-three years ago, meant to the world, no man can 
tell; but it was all God's grace that did it. God's 
grace and love were magnified again in the development 
of that character. He had the strength of body that 
was possessed by few sons of men. 

"It was all from God. To God alone was it due 
that he differed from other men. That character was 
God's gift to a world that sorely needed men like him. 
God's grace and love were magnified again in his serv- 
ice. The great secret of his success was supernatural 
power, given in answer to prayer. 

"The death of Mr. Moody is a call to his children, 
his associates, ministers of the Word everywhere, and 
to tbQ whole Church; 'Go forward,' 'Our leader ha^ 



78 LIFE AND SERMONS OF 

fallen; let us give up the work,' some would say. Not 
for a moment. Listen to what God says: 'Our leader 
has fallen. Move forward. Moses my servant is dead ; 
therefore arise, go in and possess the land. As I was 
with D. L. Moody so I will be with you. I will not 
fail thee nor forsake thee.' 

"It is remarkable how unanimous all those who have 
been associated with Mr. Moody are upon this point. 
The great institutions that he has established at North- 
field, at Mt. Hermon, at Chicago, and the work they 
represent must be pushed to the front as never before. 

"Mr. Moody himself said, when he felt the call of 
death at Kansas City: 'I know how much better it 
would be for me to go; bat we are on the verge of a 
great revival like that of 1857, and I want to have a 
hand in it." He will have a mighty hand in it. His 
death, with the triumphal scenes that surround it, are 
part of God's way of answering the prayers that have 
been going on for so long in our land for a revival." 

AN EVANGELIST'S ENCOMIUM. 

Rev. J. Wilbur Chapman spoke with much feeling, 
as follows : 

"I cannot bring myself to feel this afternoon that 
this service is a reality. It seems to me that we must 
awake from some dream and see again the face of this 
dear man of God, which we have so many times seen. 
It is & new picture to me this afternoon, I never saw 



I) WIGHT L. MOODY. 79 

Mr. Moody with bis eyes closed. They were always 
open, and it seemed to me open not only to see where 
he could help others, but where he could help me. His 
hands were always outstretched to help others. I never 
came near him without his helping me. 

"The only thing that seems natural is the sunlight now 
on his face. There was always a halo around him. I can 
only give a slight tribute of the help he has done me. 
I can only especially dedicate myself to God, that I, 
with others, can preach the Gospel he taught. 

"When a student in college, Mr. Moody found me. 
I had no object in Christ. He pointed me to the hope 
in God; he saw my heart and I saw his Saviour. I 
have had a definite life since then. When perplexities 
have arisen, from those lips came the words, 'Who are 
you doubting? If you believe in God's word, who are 
you doubting?' I was a pastor, a preacher, without 
much result. One day, Mr. Moody came to me, and, 
with one hand on my shoulder, and the other on the 
open Word of God, he said: 'Young man, you had bet- 
ter get more of this into your life,' and when I became 
an evangelist myself, in perplexity I would still sit at 
his feet, and every perplexity would vanish just as mist 
before the rising sun. And, indeed, I never came with- 
out the desire to be a better man, and be more like him, 
as he was like Jesus Christ, He was the dearest friend 
I have had. If my own father were lying in the coffin, 
I could not feel more the sense of Joss," 



80 LIFE AND SERMONS OF 

REV. DR. PIERSON'S ELOQUENT WORDS. 

A splendid tribute to Mr. Moody's memory was paid 
by Rev. A. T. Pierson, who said : 

" When a great tree falls, you know, not only by its 
branches but by its roots, how much soil it drew up as 
it fell. I know of no other man who has fallen in this 
century having so wide a tract of uprooting as this man 
who has just left us. 

"I have been thinking of the four departures during 
the last quarter of a century, cf Charles Spurgeon, of 
London; A. J. Gordon, cf Boston; Catherine Booth, 
mother of the Salvation Army, and George Muller, of 
Bristol, England, and not one made the world-wide 
commotion in their departure that D wight L. Moody 
has caused. Dwight L. Moody was a great man. 
That man, when he entered the church in 1856, in Bos- 
ton, after ten months of probation, was told by his pas- 
tor that he was not a sound believer. That pastor, 
taking him aside, told him he had better keep still in 
prayer meeting. The man the church held out at 
arm's length has become the preacher of preachers, the 
teacher of teachers, the evangelist of evangelists. It is 
a most humiliating lesson for the Church of God. 

"When, in 1858, he decided to give all his time, he 
gave the key to his future. I say everything D. L. 
Moody has touched has been a success. Do you know 
that with careful reckoning he has reached one hundred 
million of people since he first became a, Christian? 



D WIGHT L. MOODT. 8i 

You may take all the years of public service in this 
laud and Great Britain; take into consideration all the 
addresses he delivered, and all the audiences of his 
churches, and it will reach one hunched million. Take 
into consideration all the people his books have reached, 
and the languages into which they have been trans- 
lated; look beyond his evangelistic work to the work of 
education, tbe schools, the Chicago Bible Institute, and 
the Bible Institute here. Scores of people in the world 
ow T e their spiritual existence to I) wight L. Moody as a 
means of their consecration. 

"I want to say a word of Mr. Moody's entrance into 
heaven. When he entered into heaven there must have 
been an unusual commotion. I want to ask you to-day 
whether you can think of any other man of the last 
half century whose coming so many souls w^ould have 
welcomed at the gates of heaven. It was a triumphal 
entrance into glory. 

"No man who has been associated with him in Chris- 
tian work has not seen that there is but one v;ay to live, 
and that way to live wholly for God. The thing that 
D. L. Moody stood for, and will stand for, for centuries 
to come, was his living only for God. He made mis- 
takes, no doubt; but if any of us is without sin in this 
respect, we might raise a stone at him, but lam satisfied 
that the mistakes of D. L. Moody were the mistakes of 
a stream that overflowed its banks. It is a great deal 
better to be full and overflowing than to be empty and 
have nothing to overflow 7 ." 



82 LTffM AND SERMONS OF 

A son's loving words. 

All of the vast audience were touched when Will R. 
Moody, the eldest son of the great evangelist, rose in 
his pew to speak. He began in a low, deep voice, 
which, though trembling with emotion, was quite audi- 
ble to every one present. He said : 

"As a son, I want to say a few words of him as a 
father. We have heard from his pastor, his associates 
and friends, and he was just as true a father. I don't 
think he showed up in any way better than when, on 
one or two occasions, in dealing w T ith us as children, 
with his impulsive nature, he spoke rather sharply. 
We have known him to come to us and say: 'My 
children, my son, my daughter, I spoke quickly; I did 
wrong; I want you to forgive me.' That was D. L. 
Moody as a father. 

"He was not yearning to go; he loved his work. 
Life was very attractive; it seems as though on that 
early morning, as he had one foot upon the threshold, 
it was given him for our sake to give us a word of com- 
fort. He said: 'This is bliss; it is like a trance. If 
this is death, it is beautiful.' And his face lighted up 
as he mentioned those whom he saw. 

"We could not call him back; we tried to for a 
moment, but w r e could not. We thank God for his 
home life, for his true life, and we thank God that he 
was our father, and that he led each one of his children 
to know Jesus Christ.' ' 



D WIGHT L. MOODY. 83 

MR. WANAMAKER'S REMARKS. 

Hon. John Wanamaker spoke very briefly. He 
said: 

"If I had any words to say it would be that the best 
commentary on the Scriptures, the best pictures of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, were in our knowledge of the beau- 
tiful man who is sleeping in our presence to-day. For 
the first time I can understand better the kind of a man 
Paul was, and Nehemiah, and Oliver Cromwell. I think 
of Mr. Moody as a Stonewall Jackson of the Church of 
God of this century. But the sweetest of all thoughts 
of him are his prayers and his kindnesses. It was as 
if we were all taken into his family and he had a famil- 
iarity with every one and we were his closest friends. 

"It is not alone in Northfield these buildings will 
stand, but over a hundred million buildings that owe 
their standing to his efforts, Christian associations and 
churches that are erected for use both Sundays and 
week-days. There is not any place in this coun- 
try where you can go without seeing the work of this 
man of God. It seems to make every man seem small 
because he lived so far above us, as we crept close to 
his feet. It is true of every one who sought to be like 
him. 

"I can run back into the beginning of his manhood 
and there have the privilege of being close to him. I 
can call up personal friends that were at the head of 
railroads, that were distinguished in finance and busi- 



84 LIFE AND SERMONS OF 

ness, and great as their successes were, I do not believe 
that there is one of them who would not gladly have 
changed places with D. L. Moody. 

"The Christian laborer I believe to-day looms up 
more luminous than any man who lived in the century. 
It seems as if it were a vision when the one who has 
passed away stood in Philadelphia last month, when on 
his way to Kansas City, and, with tears in his eyes, he 
said to me with a sigh : 'If I could only hold one great 
city in the East before I die, I think it might help other 
cities to do the same.' Still, trusting God, he turned his 
back on his home and family, and went a thousand 
miles carrying that burden, and it was too much for 
him. A great many of the people of the sixties are 
quitting work, and if anything is to be done for God it 
is time we consecrate ourselves to Him." 

THE LAST SERVICES AT ROUND TOP. 

Among the other speakers were Rev. Dr. G. H. 
Weston and Rev. H. M. Wharton, of Baltimore, Mary- 
land. The service closed with the singing of " Blessed 
Hope" by a male quartette, after which the congrega- 
tion was dismissed, the casket closed, and at 4:40 P M. 
the funeral procession took its way to Round Top, 
the burial place chosen by Mr. Moody. Following the 
pall-bearers, and honorary pall-bearers, who marched in 
the order already mentioned, came coaches containing 
the family and jelatives, many pastors and friends, and 



D WIGHT L. MOODY. 85 

a large number cf mourners. Arrived at the grave, 
all sang "Jesus, Lover of My Soul." Rev. Dr. Torrey 
offered a brief prayer, and Rev. Dr. Scofield pro- 
nounced the benediction. When the greater part of 
the gathering had gone, the casket was opened for a 
moment to permit the family to look for the last time 
on the dear face of the dead, and it was then placed in 
an outer coffin of heavy oak and solemnly deposited in 
the grave. The plate on the casket bore the inscription : 

Dwight L. Moody. 

1837-1899. 



Mr. Moody's tomb is a vault of solid masonry, and 
had been lined with ivy preparatory to receiving the 
casket. It is at the summit of Round Top; and this 
spot, which the great evangelist in his lifetime had 
made a very center of Gcspel activity and the focus of 
many summer conferences, will now more than ever be 
a Mecca — a shrine full of memories and attractions for 
Christian workers of all denominations throughout the 
whcle world. 

MOODY'S GLIMPSES OF HEAVEN. 

In the last four hours of his life, Mr. Moody was 
jubilant over the prospect before him. After one of his 
sinking spells, he opened his eyes and sa,id to those 
about him; 



86 LIFE AND SERMONS OF 

"I have been within the gates. I have seen Irene 
and Dwight. This is God's call. It is my coronation 
day." 

Again he said: "If this is death, it is not to be 
dreaded; there is nothing bad about it; it is sweet!" 

Speaking of what was to be the course observed con- 
cerning the Training College and its methods: "I 
should like to make a will at this time. I have not a 
penny to leave you, but I should like Will to take Mt. 
Hermon; Percy, you and Emma the Chicago Bible 
Institute, and Paul, I give you the Seminary." — From 
the Christian Herald. 



D WIGHT L. MOODY. 87 



VIII. 

THE MAN" AND HIS MESSAGE— THE MES- 
SAGE ONE OF SALVATION AND HOPE— 
HIS LAST WORDS. 

In a magazine article several years ago, Henry 
Drummond declared that Mr. Moody was the greatest 
man this century had produced; and the closer one 
came to him, and the more carefully he was studied, 
the firmer became the conviction that Drummond was 
right. 

He was an humble man. The secret of his humility 
was largely in the fact that he always had on hand 
great enterprises for God. He was not easily satisfied. 
What had been done was only the stepping-stone to 
greater achievement. When a man becomes satisfied 
with what he has done in life he is apt to grow proud. 
But Moody always stood in the presence of a great un- 
finished work. The magnitude of it made him look 
away from himself to God. Great preacher as he was, 
he was never satisfied with his sermons, because there 
was in his mind an ideal higher than anything he had 
ever reached. 

He was a spiritual man. He dwelt in the secret 
place of the Most High. He loved Keswick brethren 



88 LIFE AND SERMONS OF 

and doctrines because they dealt with the deep things 
of God. His pastor spoke the truth when he said, "To 
this man the heavens were all the time full of chariots 
and horses of fire." He believed in things unseen and 
eternal. 

He was a practical man. It was truly said of him, 
"He hitched his wagon to a star, but he kept the 
wheels on earth, and its axles well oiled. " He never 
made them the mistake of the philosopher who, while 
gazing at the stars, fell into the ditch at his feet. En- 
thusiasm never ran away with his judgment. He was 
noted for his common sense. 

He was a great man in the Christly sense. Jesus 
said, "If any one would be great among you, let him 
become the servant of all," and the mission of Moody 
was to serve. His love of Jesus was a passion, and he 
loved people because Jesus loved them. All he was and 
had was laid on the altar of sacrifice. He never spared 
himself. No one who knew him ever accused him of 
seeking money for himself. He lived and died a poor 
man, while he raised and passed on millions for the 
uplifting of others. The fact that he was without early 
educational advantages led him to sympathize with 
poor young men and women, and to establish colleges 
where they could secure an education at small cost. A 
large book might be written on Moody as a builder. 
There is scarcely a large city in Christendom which 
has not some great building erected with money raised 
in response to his prayer and work, 



D WIGHT L. MOODY. 89 

He was a prophet. He spoke for God. His message 
was the whole Bible. He believed it to be the Word 
of God. It was easy for him to accept its miracles, for 
the God who wrote the Book was equal to anything 
that it claimed for Him. He had no sympathy with the 
critics who tear the Bible to pieces. There were among 
them some of his friends, w r hom he loved in spite of 
there errors. But his friendship for them never made 
him swerve a particle from his loyalty to the Bible. 

He had a message of salvation by grace. He be- 
lieved that sinners were saved by the unmerited favor 
of God. He magnified mercy. His was a Gospel of 
Blood. He frequently said that when a preacher ceases 
to preach the Blood, he begins to be powerless in his 
ministry. The great effort of his life was to induce 
sinners to take shelter under the Blood. He denounced 
as a fatal error the illusion that men can be saved by 
character, without the blood of Christ. 

He brought to the world a message of regeneration. 
He magnified the work of the Spirit in the new birth. 
He was not a reformer. With him the regeneration of 
the individual was everything. When men are saved, 
they will become good citizens and good fathers. He 
believed w T ith all his heart in instantaneous conversion. 
Indeed, he believed in no other kind of conversion than 
that which comes suddenly; that it is not possible to 
cultivate the old nature into a state of grace; we must 
receive the divine nature by an act of faith. 

He also had a message of sanctification. He did not 



90 LIFE AND SERMONS OF 

believe in sinless perfection, or the eradication of the 
old nature, but he did believe in the possibility of a 
victorious life. In talking with him one day about a 
good brother who had proclaimed himself as sinless, ho 
quietly replied, "He will soon find out his mistake/' 
He was patient with people who held radical views 
about holiness, for he thought it was better to err on 
that side than on the other. He had no fear of being 
perfect, though he was sorry that be was imperfect. 
There was before him a high standard of Christly char- 
acter, and, always conscious that he came short of it, 
he strove every day to reach it. His great desire was 
to be a vessel cleansed by the Spirit through the "Word, 
wholly set apart to the Master's use, and he came as 
near being a thoroughly sanctified man in the New 
Testament sense as any one I ever met. 

His message was a message of evangelism. His was 
not a mystical religion, occupied with introspection and 
spiritual enjoyment. He believed in a spirituality that 
expresses itself in seeking the salvation of others. He 
had a passion for soul-winning. In preaching to the 
unconverted he was always at his best. He believed 
in education, but the consuming purpose of his life was 
evangelization. He looked upon anything else, how- 
ever important, as incidental. When a church ceased 
to seek and to save the lost, he regarded it as fallen from 
its high mission. Like the Master, he forgot the 
ninety-nine that were saved, while he pressed out after 
the one who was wandering. 



D WIGHT L. MOODY. 91 

He brought a message of hope in the Second Coming 
of Christ. He was no fanatic; he never set the time. 
He wanted to be found watching, waiting and working 
when the Lord should come. But he had the upward 
look. He fell into his grave while he was looking into 
the heavens for the returning King. It was the inspira- 
tion of his life. He built for time and for eternity, but 
he was willing that the Lord should come and set aside 
all his plans in the establishment of His kingdom upon 
earth. He did not, however, disfellowship brethren 
who disagreed with him astothepremillennialreturnof 
the Lord. If a man was in right relation to Christ on 
Calvary, and believed the Bible, Moody gave him the 
hand of fellowship, whether he were post-millennialist 
or pre-millennialist. He did not believe these two 
schools of thought should be alienated, because both of 
them are looking for the coming of Christ, though they 
may differ as to details. 

He brought to the weary, burdened toilers of earth 
a message of heaven. He looked forward to its rest and 
its righteousness. His citizenship was in heaven. He 
loved his home, and made it a little heaven on earth. 
The wife and children could hardly think of him as the 
great man that he was; he was so loving and gentle 
and tender. The home on earth he prized, but the 
home in heaven he prized more. The fallacy so preva- 
lent that we should make the best of this world, and 
leave heaven to take care of itself, received no sym- 
pathy from him. His real world was "the building of 



92 LIFE AND SERMONS OF 

God, the house not made with hands, eternal in the 
heavens." As friend after friend passed through the 
gates he became more attached to the "Father's house." 
The death of his little grandchildren broke his heart, 
while it brightened heaven and made him more willing 
to go. 

His last words will be immortal: "Earth is reced- 
ing; heaven is opening; God is calling me; do not call 
me back." What a commotion his entrance into 
heaven must have made. While on earth he had 
preached with his voice to at least one hundred millions 
of people, and through his pen to millions more. How 
many millions have been saved through his life no one 
can tell, but certainly he has received an abundant en- 
trance into the city of life and light. He has seen the 
King in His beauty. The yearning of his soul that he 
might be like Him has been satisfied. I cannot think 
of Moody in heaven as any other than a leader of men, 
a worker for Jesus. If there is a campaign for the 
glory of Christ, he is at the head of it. In the closing 
word of Dr. Weston's address, "I would rather be D. 
L. Moody dead in his coffin than any other man living 
on earth." — Rev. A. A. Dixon, D.D. 



D WIGHT L. MOODY. S3 



IX. 

MR. MOODY IN HIS RELATION TO THE 
CHRISTIAN CHURCH— THE SECRET OF 
HIS SUCCESS— FROM THE CHRISTIAN 
ADVOCATE. 

We have known Dwight Lyman Moody since he 
was twenty-four years of age, and some years after our 
acquaintance began, outside of a well-defined and nar- 
row sphere of knowledge, he was so ignorant that, 
though he had attended Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciations for some time, when a motion was made to go 
into a committee of the whole he sprang up and said : 
"Committee of the ichole! How can there be a com- 
mittee of the whole? and what do we want of it? AinH 
ice all here anyhow?" His speech then was that of an 
uncultivated down-East Yankee, w T ith all the idioms, 
mispronunciations and nasality. Even he knew better 
English than he could speak, and used to say that the 
Spirit had to use Moody as he was, that he himself 
meant to make the most of Moody he could, but it 
would be some time before he could make much of him. 

As the most successful modern evangelist and as a 
teacher and founder (since all denominations of Chris- 



94 L1FB AND SERMONS OF 

tians in many lands have received the benefits of his 
life and work), his memory deserves whatever time and 
space may be necessary to present him as he was. Es- 
pecially is this important, as in his life and in the few 
days since his death he has been misunderstood and in- 
nocently misrepresented by some Christian teachers and 
others. 

His father, whose name was Edwin, was by trade a 
stone mason, but owned a comfortable little farmhouse 
and several acres of land. He had nine children, of 
whom Mr. Moody was the sixth, and when this boy, 
who was to make the family famous, was four years 
old the father died suddenly. The fatherless boy re- 
mained at home, working at whatever he got to do, and 
by the efflux of unregulated energy sometimes causing 
anxiety, until he was seventeen years old, and then, 
with his mother's permission, he went to Boston and 
took a place with his uncle, who kept a shoe store. In 
Northfield he had attended the Unitarian congregation 
with his mother. His uncle took him on two condi- 
tions that he would take his advice in all things, and 
that he would regularly attend the Sunday-school and 
services of the Mount Vernon Congregational Church. 

The pastor of that church w r as the Rev. Dr. Edward 
N. Kirk, one of the most evangelical and eloquent min- 
isters this country has produced. His Sunday-school 
teacher was Mr. Edward Kimball, who has since be- 
come known throughout the United States for his suc- 
cess in inducing churches to pay off their debts. With 



D WIGHT L. MOODY. 95 

Mr. Kimball we have conversed and frequently corre- 
sponded concerning the early religious life of Mr. 
Moody, and, prepared by these conversations, have 
talked with the subject of them, finding substantial 
agreement between Mr. Kimball's reminiscences and 
Mr. Moody's own version. 

The statements which have been often repeated that 
after his conversion Mr. Moody applied for membership 
in the church, but was kept waiting for a year, and 
even after his admission his attempts to edify the 
brethren by remarks in the prayer meeting were of such 
a character that his pastor, Dr. Kirk, took him aside 
and suggested to him that he might serve the Lord in 
some other way more acceptably, and that many others 
advised him to keep silence, when stated in that bald 
way, must be taken with many grains of allowance. 

Many a time we have heard the statement made by 
persons who wished to flavor their Sunday-school con- 
vention with something piquant, that the "staid and 
stiff New England orthodoxy was so barren that it 
would hardly admit to the Lord's table so devoted and 
earnest a servant of Christ as Dwight L. Moody, of 
Chicago." Others affirmed that when he went to 
Sunday-school he was critical, self-asserfcive, independ- 
ent — a troublesome scholar. The facts are that Dr. 
Kirk's was organized as a revival church particularly 
to retain in Boston the eloquence, zeal, and marvelous 
fervor of that man, to whom God gave as noble a pres- 
ence and as wonderful a voice as we have ever heard. 



96 LIFE AND BERM0N8 OF 

Those sympathizing with his peculiar work gathered 
about him, among them such men as Julius A. Palmer, 
the brother of Dr. Ray Palmer, the author of "My faith 
looks up to Thee." He was one of the deacons, and all 
the rest had the same sympathies. Mr. Kimball was 
not only Mr. Moody's Sabbath-school teacher and, as 
Mr. Moody expressly informed us, the means of his 
conversion, but was also one of the examining commit- 
tee. But the Mount Vernon Church would not receive 
a person who could not furnish evidence that he was 
converted, even if he was perfectly orthodox in doctrine. 

About the time Mr. Moody was converted a young 
man came from Scotland with a letter from a Presby- 
terian Church. He could repeat the Shorter Cate- 
chism, answer all doctrinal questions glibly, but when he 
was asked of his position before God as a sinner and 
his conscious relation to Christ as a Saviour, he knew 
nothing of it, and made no reply, except that "such 
questions were never asked him before." He confessed 
that he had simply "joined" because he was advised 
and expected to do so. This young man was advised 
to wait, and brethren were appointed to try to arouse 
in him a consciousness of his need of a Saviour and of 
a work of grace, and to point him to the Lamb of God. 
About the same time a young woman applied who was 
wholly in the dark on "doctrines"; tender, tearful, 
hesitating, distrustful of herself, she could not tell why 
she thought herself a Christian, but could only say that 
she loved Christ and the prayer meeting. One of the 



B WIGHT L. MOODY. 97 

committee said, "Do you love God's people because 
they are His?" Her face brightened, and she said, "Oh, 
sir, is that an evidence?" "Yes." "Then I am sure 
I have that if I have no other, for I love to be with 
Christians anywhere." She was promptly received. 

When Mr. Moody appeared for examination he was 
e'ghteen years old. He had only been in the Sunday- 
school class a few weeks; he had no idea and could not 
tell what it was to be a Christian ; even when aided by 
his teacher, whom he loved, he could not state what 
Christ had done for him. The chief question put to 
him was this: "Mr. Moody, what has Christ done for 
us all — for you— which entitles Him to our love?" The 
longest answer he gave in the examination was this: 
"I do not know. I think Christ has done a good deal 
for us, but I do not think of anything particular as I 
know of." 

Under these circumstances, as he was a stranger to all 
the members of the committee, and less than a month 
had elapsed since he began to give any serious thought 
to the salvation of his soul, they deferred recommending 
him for admission to the church. But two of the ex- 
amining committee were specially designated to watch 
over him with kindness, and teach him "the way of 
God more perfectly." 

l m When he met the committee again no merely doc- 
trinal questions were asked of him ; but as his sincerity 
and earnestness were undoubted and he appeared to 
have more light, it wag decjdeci to propound him fQE 



98 LIFE AND SERMONS CF 

admission. About eight years after this, and when 
Mr. Moody bad become prominent as an evangelist, he 
expressed his gratitude to one of the officers of the 
church for the course pursued, and said his conviction 
was that its influence was favorable to his growth in 
grace. He also said he was afraid that pastors and 
church officers generally were falling into the error of 
hurrying new converts into a profession of religion. 
To a person of our acquaintance Dr. Kirk himself re- 
ferred with the deepest grief to these imputations upon 
the church, and declared them to be without foundation 
in truth ; as well he might, for if there ever existed a man 
in New England who was free from the spirit of " staid 
and stiff New England orthodoxy," it was Dr. Kirk. 

As for the suggestion to say but little in prayer meet- 
ing, we have little doubt that some one suggested that, 
for Mr. Moody has told us of his utter ignorance of the 
evangelical system. He was converted ; he "wished to 
do his duty"; he "said whatever came to his lips," 
knowing nothing about its consistency or inconsistency; 
but he acted on John Wesley's rule, "Do every reli- 
gious duty as you can until you can do it as you would. " 

In 1862 he married Miss Emma C. Revell. She 
proved a helpmeet indeed. They were soon in great 
straits. One morning some time after his marriage he 
said to his wife, "I have no money, and the house is 
without supplies; it looks as if the Lord had had 
enough of me in this mission work and was going to 
send me back to sell boots and shoes." But he sue- 



D WIGHT L. MOODY. 99 

ceeded, and in 1863 an edifice was erected to hold his con- 
gregation. Two years later he became president of the 
Young Men's Christian Association of Chicago. Most 
of his converts had not been members of any religious 
denomination, so Mr. Moody became pastor himself, 
though not ordained. He refused to take a salary. 

Between the years 1865 and 1871 he traveled in the 
interest of Sabbath-schools and Young Men's Christian 
Associations, attending conventions and delivering ad- 
dresses. In the great fire in Chicago his church build- 
ing was destroyed. With his family he was forced to 
flee and leave everything behind. Within a month a 
temporary house was built. This was replaced by a 
structure that would hold four thousand people and cost 
nearly seventy thousand dollars, which in a very short 
time was paid. 

Long before this he was found to have unusual and 
ever available common sense, and business sagacity 
worthy to be classed with that of Vanderbilt, Hunting- 
ton, and many other commercial princes. It was the 
development of such abilities, in part, that secured him 
the confidence of men of large means to a degree never 
attained by any other person engaged in such work as 
that to which he devoted his life. He may be con- 
sidered at least the unecclesiastic founder of modern 
institutional work for the salvation of men. Every- 
where he acted upon the principle that without God 
man can do nothing effectual in saving men and 
that God requires the best that is in every man. Mr. 



100 LIFE AND SERMON'S OF 

Moody neglected nothing. He justified wide advertis- 
ing on the ground that Christ Himself, in the absence 
of other means, sent out seventy, two by two, to notify 
the people, to prepare them for His coming. To ventila- 
tion, proper seating, and all the essentials for the at- 
traction and management of great bodies, to co-opera- 
tion, the presentation and demonstration of religious 
unity, and the presence of men of weight in the com- 
munity he gave special attention. 

He flowered into cosmopolitan fame under very pecu- 
liar circumstances. His first visit to Great Britain was 
in 1867. What he did then chiefly excited surprise and 
curiosity. After the great fire in Chicago he went over 
again and associated himself with Philip Phillips, who 
was when traveling in the United Kingdom under his 
sobriquet of " The Singing Pilgrim." But in 1873 he be- 
gan an evangelical tour which lasted nearly three years. 
This time he was accompanied by Mr. Sankey. They 
were invited to England by a clergyman of the Church 
of England and a layman, almost strangers, who had 
been brought into contact with Moody and Sankey in 
Chicago. On arriving in England they found that the 
friends who had invited them had died, and they were 
left alone, without means, friendship, or money. 

After reaching London they went to York to begin 
their meetings. Their first congregation consisted of 
five hearers; their second of seven; their third of nine. 
There were some signs of success, however, as they 
advanced. Afteward they were invited, by some one 



D WIGHT L. MOODY. 101 

who was willing to spend a little doing good, to New- 
castle-upon-Tyne. There they met with marvelous suc- 
cess. Thence they went to Edinburgh, Glasgow, 
Dundee, Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham, Liver- 
pool and London. 

When they arrived at London for work, such was the 
interest that eighteen thousand persons assembled at 
the first meeting. While there the evangelists were 
much criticised — favorably by some, unfavorably by 
others. The most outrageous falsehoods were circu 
lated concerning them, the worst of them originating 
in this country. It was reported that they were sent 
over to London by a certain firm of organ manufactur- 
ers, at a salary of five hundred pounds a year, and the 
president of the company was obliged to come out, over 
his own signature, and certify that "neither Mr. Moody 
nor Mr. Sankey derives any pecuniary advantage from 
the use of our organs. At our request our London 
agent has loaned Mr. Sankey one cf our organs for use 
in their services without charge, a favor which any or- 
gan maker would have been glad to do him." It was 
stated editorially by one of the leading daily papers of 
this city in its number of June 22, 1875, "We are 
credibly informed that Messrs. Moody and Sankey were 
sent out to England by Mr. Barnum as a matter of 
speculation." This was reprinted in the London Cos- 
mopolitan and other papers. So sensitive were they 
to the charges that they were "coining money by saving 
souls" that, though the royalty on the hymn and music 



10S LIFE AND SERMONS OF 

books of Moody and Sankey in England reached the 
large sum of twenty-eight thousand three hundred and 
thirty-five dollars, the evangelists would accept none of 
it; the London committee concluded to apply it to Mr. 
Moody's church in Chicago, and the amount credited to 
them was forwarded to the treasurer of the fund for the 
new building. 

They also suffered much from the then prevalent prej- 
udice against Americans and American methods, a 
prejudice which has been happily transformed into a 
prepossession. No American who has visited the 
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in a 
public religious character attracted nearly so much at- 
tention or left such permanent and valuable fruits. 

Mr. Moody's experiences in Great Britain and Ireland 
constitute the second period in his evolution. He was 
now a man with a message for the English-speaking 
world, and the expansive force of that message almost 
transformed him in the brief period of three years. He 
rose, as a man and a Christian, with his elevation in the 
public view ; and each new effort seemed to demand 
from him— and qualify him for — a greater. From the 
time he raised the Gospel trumpet to his lips he deliv- 
ered the whole counsel of God. In Scotland, where, 
whatever the condition now, there was then no serious 
estrangement between the dominant churches and 
whisky, on one occasion, Mr. Moody — who was then 
standing in the pulpit of what was known as "the dis- 
tiller's kirk," and a distiller was acting in place of Mr. 



JD WIGHT L. MOODY. 103 

Sankey in leading the singing — in the midst of a most 
animated address, paused and then said: 

" Is there any rich distiller here who has made his 
money by the ruin of the bodies and souls of men? I 
say to him, if you expect or desire the favor of God, 
make restitution and restore to the right parties. Do 
not think to make peace by giving a thousand pounds 
to build a church. Go to the widows you have made; 
go to the orphans you have made, and to them restore 
as far as in your power. ' ' 

His hold on all classes was tenacious; it became un- 
popular to ridicule him. Even in Dublin, where the 
people were much divided, it was unsafe to speak of 
Mr. Moody or his co-worker, Mr. Sankey, disrespect- 
fully. During a pantomime at one of the Dublin 
theaters a clown entered and said: "I feel rather 
Moody " the pantaloon rejoined, "I feel rather Sankey- 
monious." Upon this the gallery hissed them, and 
then, not content with a negative form of expressing 
respect, some one started "Hold the Fort, for I am 
Coming," and, according to The Rock, a leading 
English paper, the whole assembly in the higher story 
joined in the chorus, and the curtain fell until the 
hymn was concluded. 

A remarkable circumstance was that soon after the 
British Association of Science met in Belfast and the 
brilliant Professor Tyndall uttered words that grieved 
all Christians throughout the world, evangelical and 
unevargelical (which expression Professor Tyndall 



104 LIFE AND SERMONS OF 

many years afterward tried to modify, as even his 
fellow-scientists declared it an unscientific utterance), 
Moody and Sankey arrived and began their services, 
and the effect was that more converts of the most intel- 
ligent class than had been received into the churches 
for many years resulted. 

As their audiences increased, the higher class of peri- 
odicals attempted philosophical explanations of the 
movement. All denominations co-operated with them, 
and many of the clergy of the Established Church. 
The attitude of the clergy of that church as a whole, 
however, was that of a "simple looker-on, hinting 
doubts and occasionally expressing mild approval, but 
being really afraid to censure and afraid to applaud." 

Lord Shaftesbury thanked God publicly that Mr. 
Moody had not been educated at Oxford, "for he bad a 
wonderful power of getting at the hearts of men, and 
while the common people heard him gladly, many per- 
sons of high station have been greatly struck with the 
marvelous simplicity and power of his preaching." 
Lord Shaftesbury added that the Lord Chancellor of 
England a short time before had said to him, "The 
simplicity of that man's preaching, the clear manner in 
which he sets forth salvation by Christ, is to me the 
most striking and the most delightful thing I ever knew 
in my life." Mr. Gladstone attended the meetings, 
and was deeply impressed with the hunger of the people 
to hear the Gospel. Heartily grasping Mr. Moody's 
hand, he said to him, "I wish I had your body" Mr, 



D WIGHT L. MOODY. 105 

Moody immediately replied, "I wish I had your head." 
Mr. Gladstone responded, "I mean I wish I had your 
lungs," to which Mr. Moody again replied, "I wish I 
had your brains"; and with hearty good wishes they 
parted. 

Certain journals satirized and some of the comic 
papers caricatured him. The Saturday Review ex- 
pressed surprise that so many persons should go to hear 
Mr. Sankey, ridiculed his singing, and said of Mr. 
Moody, "He is simply a ranter of the most vulgar type; 
his mission seems to be to degrade religion to the level 
of the ' penny gaff.'" But the London Times, in a 
leading article, said: 

"Mr. Sankey simply confines himself to the kind of 
tunes and to the mode of singing with which large mul- 
titudes can be most readily brought into harmony. 
Both the crowds and the music, however they may 
contribute to the general result, are perfectly legiti- 
mate aids, and it is a mere matter of good sense for a 
preacher to employ such influences for predisposing his 
hearers to listen to him. But people would not come 
together for weeks merely to hear impressive singing, 
nor to yield to the impulse of association. They come 
to hear Mr. Moody, and the main question is, What 
has he to say? Is any Christian Church in this metrop- 
olis in a position to say that it can afford to dispense 
with any vigorous effort to rouse the mass of our people 
to a more Christian life? The congregations which are 
to be seen in our churches and cbapels are but a frac- 



106 LIFE AND SERMONS OF 

tion of the hundreds of thousands around them, of 
whom multitudes are living little better than mere ani- 
mal existence. If any considerable portion of them 
can be roused to a mere desire of something higher, an 
immense step is gained ; and if the churches are really 
a higher influence still, Mr. Moody will at least have 
prepared them a better material to think upon." 

To aid those who have come upon the scene during 
the third and quieter, but not less fruitful, period of his 
life, we have culled these testimonies from a mass .of 
materials which passed before our eyes when the events 
were taking place, or were communicated to us by citi- 
zens of Great Britain when we visited the places where 
they occurred. 

His career, one of the most impressive phenomena of 
the last half of this century, presents a problem for 
solution. 

Was there one secret of his power? or were there 
many? Did he become extraordinary by an unusual 
aggregation of ordinary qualities and deeds? or was 
there one or more elements rarely found elsewhere? 

There were many secrets of his success. His physi- 
cal powers were an important element. He was ener- 
getic, untiring, and full of animal spirits. His native 
intellect w T as strong. Only his primitive ignorance, 
lack of cultivation, and bashfulness caused people to 
think that he would never achieve anything of moment. 
His development was slow but sure. Conversion 
unified and intensified his powers, and placed before 



D WIGHT L. MOODY. 107 

him a target at which he steadily aimed. He shunned 
no responsibility, and was strong enough to meet every 
one. 

As an orator he improved as long as he lived ; he 
became less coarse; he noticed what thoughts and sim- 
iles, what illustrations and facts, made the deepest im- 
pression, what tones seemed to move his hearers, and 
perfected these until he became a powerful speaker. 
Those who are saying that "Moody was no orator," 
either have not heard him or have a different idea of 
oratory from that entertained by Daniel Webster. Mr. 
Moody had u clearness, force, and earnestness" ; his sin- 
cerity was manifest; his pathos was sometimes over- 
whelming. In his first address in London he moved 
the audience to its depths. 

In sheer persuasiveness Mr. Moody had few equals, 
and rugged as his preaching may have seemed to some, 
there was in it a pathos of a quality which few orators 
have ever reached, an appealing tenderness which not 
only wholly redeesned it, but raised it not unseldom 
almost to sublimity. t .No report can do the faintest 
justice to this or to the other most characteristic quali- 
ties of his public speech. 

His improvement in oratory was one of the proofs of 
his natural endowment. The last time we heard him 
he delivered a eulogy of Joseph of Arimathea, which, 
in matter, manner, displayed thought, order, and cumu- 
lative force, when compared with what it was when 
he began, could not have shown a greater change for 



108 LIFE AND SEttMOm OF 

the better if he had been under the training of the best 
teachers. 

His persistence was almost superhuman. Difficul- 
ties developed latent force, the full measure of which no 
one could take. Great as they were, had they been 
more numerous and weighty, all who were brought into 
close relations with him felt that he would have been 
adequate to overcome them. 

Conviction pervaded his whole being. This made 
him positive and dogmatic, and m some things opinion- 
ative. He believed the Bible. To him the miracles 
were exact statements, "not the allegories of Origen, 
nor the myths of Strauss, nor the pious frauds of 
Renan." He believed the humbling doctrines of the 
Bible; that man is depraved and "must be born 
again"; that Christ is God and man; that He died for 
all men because all were dead; and that He that believ- 
eth "shall be saved/' but "he that believeth not shall 
be damned." When, after his long absence in Europe, 
he held Hippodrome meetings in New York, he declared 
to those who were at ease in Zion, "Many of you, no 
doubt, will get to heaven, but with a starless crown." 
To the unsaved he exclaimed, "A man goes to hell be- 
cause he chooses." "There are three steps to hell — ■ 
neglect, refuse, despise." Though he did not speak 
so much of damnation as of salvation, all his appeals, 
exhortations, invitations, and hymns implied that, like 
Paul, "knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord," be 
would persuade men. His frankness, his unpolished 



D WIGHT L. MOODY. 109 

simplicity, unapologetic earnestness, sharply defined 
individuality, all contributed to bis success, as did bis 
disregard of conventionalism and hatred of cant. He 
was great (if not so great as some) in organization, and 
he was pre-emininent as a leader of men. His talents 
in various unrelated fields were above mediocrity, and, 
judged by the popular idea of the word, he had a touch 
of genius. 

This is not the time to analyze, much less to criticise j 
his doctrinal views. What he preached was consistent 
with itself, and w T as, as a w T hole, the power of God to 
the salvation of every one that believed it. His doc- 
trines were the inspiration of his ow r n individual and 
puhlic life. 

The change in the direction of his energies of late 
years has given rise to erroneous theories of its cause. 
Some have said that he had lost interest in creating 
great emotional waves, and had reached the conclusion, 
that "Christian nurture is better than revivalism/' 
Those who so say have superinduced their own theories 
upon his actions. Because he added to his work as an 
evangelist what they consider the whole work of the 
church, they conceive that he had changed his views, 
and characterize it development and progress in him. 

What he discovered was this : that the pastors and 
the churches were coming to depend upon such work as 
he did. He conceived the idea of using his energies to 
arouse Christians; for his root principle, often repeated, 
was that "an anxious church is always surrounded by 



110 LIFE AND SERMONS OF 

anxious inquirers." His Northfield institutions were 
intended as a center of Bible study and a place for the 
training of evangelists, a rendezvous for pastors who 
wished to learn to be their own evangelists; his schools 
for young people grew up as adjuncts of this general 
plan; the youths were to become converted, and edu- 
cated as Christian workers. Instead of devoting him- 
self wholly to making converts, his plan of late has 
been to awaken churches to do their part. Herein he 
exhibited breadth and penetration. "If there were 
twenty Moodysand the churches sat around seeing them 
save sinners, they and the world would be worse off 
than if there never had been such a man." This was 
one of many ways in which he expressed his conviction. 

Tact, resourcefulness, a consciousness of his power 
over men, a belief that God had singled out D. L. 
Moody for a great work, a belief that he was led by 
God, a conviction that when he presented God's claims 
to the man to whom God sent him or in the city to 
which God sent him, he would be irresistible; — all these, 
upheld by a constitution which seemed for years as 
though built of iron and steel, made up the man we 
mourn. 

Perhaps the most potent element of his success was 
the spotlessness of his reputation, at once the fruit and 
the guarantee of the genuineness of his character. 
Whether in the crucible of private criticism or in the 
glare of publicity, his moral and religious consistency 
was unimpeachable; his spirit pure and sweet It was 



JD WIGHT L. MOODY. Ill 

this which gave him even more power in private per- 
sonal appeals than he had in public. Men instinctively 
yielded to the man whom they intuitively perceived to 
be what he professed to be. In religious experience he 
had nothing new. It was a living faith and a living 
fire, the sense of sins forgiven, the impulse to save 
men, to help them, teach them, and comfort them. 

For a man with such a constitution and with such 
limitless capabilities for work, who might have sup- 
posed that he could live on to fourscore, to find himself 
suddenly touched by the hand of death was a test of 
faith, if not of hope and love. 

His last moments were spent in comforting his 
family. Reviving from a fainting spell, he said to his 
sons: 

" I have always been an ambitious man — not ambi- 
tious to lay up wealth, but to leave you work to do; 
and you are going to continue the work of the schools 
at East Northfield and Mount Hermon, and of the 
Chicago Bible Institute." 

When his daughter cried out in her agony: "Father, 
we cannot spare you," he said: "lam not going to 
throw my life away. If God has more work for me to 
do, I will not die." As the hour of noon approached, 
those at the bedside perceived that he was about to die. 
Several times his lips moved as if in prayer, but the 
words could not be heard. Just at the very moment of 
death he awoke as if from slumber, and said with joy- 
ousness ; 



112 LIFE AND SERMONS OF 

"i see earth receding. 
Heaven is opening. 
God is calling me." 

Here was no "leap in the dark," no setting sail on 
an unknown sea," no muttering, "To be, or not to be," 
no "Death is a wall." But here was the "evidence of 
things not seen," the "substance of things hoped for," a 
stingless death, a grave robbed of its victory. Thus 
fully was D. L. Moody persuaded that neither death, 
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor 
things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor 
depth, nor any other creature, was able to separate him 
from the love of God, which was in Christ Jesus his 
Lord. 

Thus was the name of Christ honored in his death, as 
it had been by his life. 



MOODY'S 



BEST SERMONS 



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THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 

I suppose there is not a real Christian here this after- 
noon but that has a desire to be used of God. If yon have 
no desire, no longing for usefulness, I should say there is 
something wrong in your life. It seems to me that the 
first impulse, the first aim of a new-born soul is service. 
" What shall I do? I want to do something." This desire 
is out of gratitude to Him who has saved you. I cannot 
conceive of a subject more important than the one before 
us. When Christ had finished His work, the last thing 
he did was to teach his disciples about the coming of the 
Holy Spirit and what He would do when He came. When 
He handed over His work to them, then it was He told 
them that the Spirit was coming to help and to work with 
them. It was this that helped those early Christians, and 
it will help us. There is not a man or woman to-day who 
may not be helped if he will. But first, there must be a 
willing mind and heart; we must know the mind of the 
Holy Spirit, give ourselves up wholly to be led and guided 
and filled with the Spirit. 

Now, in the first place, it is well for us to remember 



116 MOODY'S NEW SERMONS. 

that the Holy Spirit is a person. I think I was a Chris- 
tian for a number of years before I knew that. If I had 
ever heard it, it had slipped from me and left no impres- 
sion. I remember the first time I was awakened upon this 
subject while listening to an old minister talking about 
honoring the Holy Ghost. I had always up to that time 
looked upon Him in the light of one of the attributes, like 
justice, mercy, love. But when this old divine talked 
about His personality, I really thought that the old man 
had gone a little out of his head. It seemed so strange 
that 1 had never heard of it before ! I went home and 
read my Bible in order to find out everything that the book 
said about the Holy Spirit. I found that it always spoke 
of the spirit as "He," never as an influence. There is one 
verse in the 14th chapter of John where the word "He" 
occurs four times. I haven't time to dwell upon the per- 
sonality of the Holy Ghost, and will not say anything more 
about it. I only want you to understand that He is dis- 
tinct from the Father and the Son. When Jesus came 
down to this earth, the work which He did was distinct 
from the work of the Father. 

But now let me come to what His work is. In the first 
place His work is to convict of sin. You often hear people 
say, "Why is it so few people are converted under our 
minister? He is cultured, refined, intellectual, eloquent, 
but yet there seem to be very few conversions." Well, now, 
my dear friends, if you are going to look to your ministers 
to convict and convert people, you are going to be disap- 
pointed. It is the work of the Holy Ghost to convict of 



THE WORK OF TIIE HOLY SPIRIT. 117 

sin. I have often said that I had rather do almost any 
manual work than that which I am doing if I have got to 
convict the people of sin. It is God's work to carry home 
conviction to the heart, not man's work. When He shall 
come He shall convict and convince men of sin. I have 
seen people who, when the spirit of God has been working 
mightily, would get up and go out and slam the door after 
them in a bad passion. Not a bad sign. I would a good 
deal rather have them do that than make no sign at all. 

When I was preaching in Philadelphia some time ago, a 
man and his wife attended my lectures one night. They 
went home, and the man went to bed without speaking to 
his wife. The next morning he got up and ate his break- 
fast and went off without saying a word to her. All that 
day she moaned that she had made a mistake in taking her 
husband to the meetings. He came home at noon and did 
not speak to her, and at night again. And he kept that 
up for a whole week. At the end of the week he said, 
"Wife, why did you tell Mr. Moody all about me?" His 
wife replied that she had not spoken a word xo Mr. Moody 
about him. " Then you must have written him about me." 
"No, I haven't written him anything about you." "Well, 
then, he must have heard it from some one else. That 
impudent wretch held me up before thousands of people 
and told them all about me." 

Well, then, after a man has been convinced of his sins 
and is willing to give them up, the next thing the Spirit 
does is to shed abroad the love of God in our hearts. A 
great many people are always trying to make themselves 



118 MOODY'S NEW SERMON'S. 

love God. Yon cannot do it. Love must be spontaneous. 
You cannot love by trying to make yourself love. You 
have got to have power, and that power comes from the 
Spirit. When we have that love then we have the Spirit 
of Jesus Christ. Once I asked a lady who was mourning 
because she didn't love God if she loved her mother. She 
said, "Yes, I cannot help it." "Well," I said, "that is it 
exactly." When that heart has been filled with the Spirit 
of God you cannot help loving Him. But you cannot 
make yourself love. More love is just what we want 
to-day. If you should ask me what the church needs, I 
should say "love." 

Then another thing that the spirit does is to impart 
hope. You never saw the spirit of God working in a 
church that wasn't hopeful. Another thing the Spirit of 
God does is to give liberty. Where the spirit is there is 
liberty. In a good deal of our church work there is almost 
everything but liberty. A good deal of our work is forced 
work. Sometimes it takes a good deal of strength to get 
out a word. Why? Because the atmosphere isn't right. 
The Holy Spirit has got to have the right atmosphere to 
work in. You take the atmosphere out of this room and 
my voice wouldn't be heard three feet away from me. 
You have got to have air to convey sound, and you have 
got to have the spirit prepare the ground in order to carry 
home the truth. If you get into a certain atmosphere 
where the spirit isn't working you will not have liberty. 

If a minister hasn't got liberty, it isn't always his fault. 
I want to emphasize that. The fault may be down there 



THE WORK OF THE IIOL Y SPIRIT. 11 9 

in the audience. I venture to say that an archangel 
couldn't have had liberty under such circumstances. 
Why? Because of the fault-finding, back-biting and criti- 
cism. Supposing Andrew and Philip had a row and were 
not on speaking terms, do you think there would have been 
any liberty? There is not the right atmosphere, and I do 
not care who you put in the pulpit, there will be liberty. 
You want some new church members down there. You 
get them straight, and the ministers will be all right. Sup- 
posing James had turned to John and said, "John, I really 
don't think Peter is preaching as well to-day as usual ;" 
and John had replied, "Why, he has the most influential 
congregation I ever saw. The greatest men of the city 
are here." I will venture to say that you have had ten 
thousand better sermons preached than Peter ever 
preached. Suppose those people had gone on picking 
Peter to pieces. Do you think there would have been any 
power? But the one hundred and twenty held Peter right 
up to God, and, if you will allow me to use the expression, 
he swung loose that day. It takes neither brains nor heart 
to find fault. Anybody can do that. If you doubt what 
I say just go into a crowd and hear a stranger talk. You 
will hear it said, "Well, what do you think of him?" "I 
must confess that I was greatly disappointed. He isn't as 
good as our own minister." Another comes along and 
says, "He wasn't logical. I have a logical turn of mind, 
and when 1 go to church I want to hear logic." Another 
says, "He wasn't philosophical. Don't know what it 
means, but philosophy is what he wants." Another says, 



120 MOOD Y 'S NEW SERMON'S. 

"It was all brain. Now, I am using my brain all day long, 
and when I go to church I want some one to appeal to my 
heart." 

I wish we could get this spirit of criticism out of the 
church, and then there would be something done. But 
perhaps the fault is not with the man in the pulpit. When 
you go home and look at the looking-glass, perhaps you 
will see the guilty person. What he wants is to get out 
of the business of fault-finding. It is poor business, my 
friend. Just get to praying. You need the spirit of God 
just as much as the minister. You business men need it; 
the Sunday-school teachers need it; there are men and 
women who confess God who need it. You will have lib- 
erty to walk and talk with, and work for Christ if you have 
His spirit. 

His work is also to testify of Christ. What we want to- 
day is love of Christ. That's all. Let these ministers go 
into the pulpits and lift up Christ and let speculation go. 
The world can get on without speculation and theories, 
but this old world cannot go on without Jesus Christ. 
Therefore we want to preach Him and hold Him up. 
There is no class of men that Jesus Christ won't draw if 
He is lifted up. 

Then, another thing the spirit of God does is to teach 
you. "He shall teach you all things." He is a wonderful 
teacher. There is not a thing that I want to know about 
the future life that God cannot teach me. Any spirit that 
does not want that Book you may know is a lying spirit. 
"He shall teach you all things," Now, if we have got a 



THE WORK OF THE HOL Y SPIRIT. 121 

teacher sent down here from heaven to teach us all things, 
are we not dishonoring Him if we run after other teachers? 
People often come to me and ask me to go to other teachers, 
call up some departed spirits and have the chairs and tables 
turning round. I tell them, "No." When the Lord con- 
verted me He took me out of darkness. In secret my 
Master taught nothing. I don't want anything of these 
teachers that are going to teach us in the dark. I don't 
know what they are. They may come from hell. 

And then He shall guide you into all truth. Wonderful 
guide, isn't He? That is what He is down here for, to 
guide us through the wilderness. He* is here to look after 
us. 

Now I want to call your attention to a fact. You never 
in your life saw a man full of God who wasn't full of 
Scripture. 

You see a minister in the pulpit that is filled with the 
Spirit of God and he will talk Scripture right along. Mary 
was filled with the Holy Ghost, and that Magnificat flowed 
from her lips. And any man full of the Holy Ghost will 
talk Scripture. 

I believe Christ never spoke of his death but what he 
said, " On the third day I will rise again." And yet, when 
the time came his disciples had forgotten all about those 
words. It has always been a mystery to me where the 
family of Bethany was. You would have thought they 
would have remembered and been at His grave. His 
enemies had better memories than His own disciples. 
They were at the door of the sepulcher; but they never 



123 MOOD Y 'S NEW SERMONS. 

did a better thing for Christianity than to roll that stone 
np against the door. 

But when the Holy Ghost came, then we are told that 
they remembered the words of the Lord Jesus. Their 
memory was long enough then. I tell you, when you are 
filled with the spirit of God, Scripture will come rushing 
into your mind. One text upon another comes rushing 
into your mind saying, "Use me, use me." 

And then, "He shall comfort you." There is not a 
broken heart to-day that He cannot make whole. There is 
not a sorry one that He will not comfort. "If I go not 
away the Comforter will not come." 

I want to say to the singers that there is great honor put 
upon music. When the Levites were praising God, then 
it was that the Shekinah came and filled the temple with 
glory. If the members of the choir had been at enmity 
with each other and had not been on speaking terms, do 
you think there w r onld have been any harmony? You 
want your singing in harmony with the preaching, and the 
singer wants to keep his heart as well tuned as the minister, 
if he is going to sing well. I don't know what angel it 
was that got down to the plains to tell the shepherds that 
Christ had come, but I have an idea that it was Gabriel. 
But they sung "Glory to God in the Highest; Peace on 
Earth, Good Will Toward Men." And let me say to the 
singers that I believe they are doing as much as I am. 
You sing the gospel, and I will preach it. I believe John 
Wesley did as much good as Charles. One preached and 
the other sung the gospel halfway around the world in a 



THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 123 

very short time. I believe I should be at my wit's ends if 
you asked me to quote anything that Charles Wesley ever 
said, but I think I could repeat several of John Wesley's 
hymns. Let us praise God as well as pray. Let us be 
thankful for what we have got. 

Sometimes, when we get to praying, the Holy Ghost 
comes. I like to go into a meeting when you cannot sing 
or say anything and when you feel as if you don't want 
any one to say a word. The Holy Ghost can do more in 
one day than you and I can in five years. I hope he will 
come and work in each of our hearts to-day. 

And this is His dwelling place, in these bodies that you 
and I inhabit. When w r e have been near the Son of God, 
then it is that these bodies become temples for the Holy 
Ghost to dwell in. Jesus says, "He shall be in you. He 
shall abide with you." And Paul says, "Know ye not that 
ye are the temples of God and that the spirit of God dwell- 
eth in you?" We have been bought, not by silver, but by 
the precious Son of God; and these bodies are the temples 
for the Holy Ghost to dwell in. Therefore let us keep the 
temple pure and sweet. I want a baptism for my own soul. 
I don't want to begin this year without a fresh anointing 
for the service. I should like to have all of you have the 
same desire. 



124 MOOD T 8 NEW SERMONS. 



GOD'S SERVICE AND THE HOLY SPIRIT. 

This evening I want to continue the subject we had this 
afternoon. There may be some here who were not present 
this afternoon. Therefore, I will briefly outline the points 
discussed then. We were talking about the office work of 
the Holy Spirit, and I tried to show that His office work 
was to convict of sin, to impart the love of God, fill us with 
hope and courage, to give us liberty to testify of Christ, to 
teach us all things, to guide us into all truth and convert 
us. 

Now I want to go right on and show that it is His work 
to fill us and qualify us for God's service. There was one 
denomination in this country a few years ago that reported 
that there had not been a single conversion. Now, I 
believe that every church can be fruit-bearing if it will, 
and I believe that this very subject we have before us to- 
night will show us how we can bring forth fruit. I don't 
believe that any church need return at the end of the year 
and say " We have toiled all the year and gained nothing." 
I believe that it is clearly taught in the Scriptures that it 
is the privilege of every true child of God to bring forth 
fruit. " Herein is my father glorified that ye bring forth 
much fruit." Now, there are a good many sons and 



GOD 'S SER VICE AND THE HOL Y SPIRIT. 125 

daughters of God that are without power. I think there 
is not one here that will deny that. I do not think that I 
slander the church when I say nine-tenths of the church 
members to-day are without power. I think if you take 
one-tenth of them you will have about all that have got 
real Holy Ghost power. Now, I don't believe that ought 
to be the state of the church. I think it would be a good 
idea when a man or woman wants to join the church to ask 
him if he wants to be a member with or without power. 
If he says "without power," it would be well to say "We 
have plenty of that kind of church members. What we 
want is a few with power." I believe you can all have it 
if you will. The power is here. This Old Book teaches 
us how we can get it. Now, I do not know that I am 
right, but I think you will find three classes of Christians 
represented in the Bible, and I think you will find them in 
all our churches. The first is represented in the third 
chapter of John, where Nicodemus came to Christ by night 
and got life. But he only barely got it. He didn't get it 
in all its abundance. Nicodemus worked while Peter, 
James and John were enjoying. They heard all the par- 
ables, saw all the miracles, ate with Him, slept with Him, 
and they were just lifted up into the third heaven, as you 
might say, while poor Nicodemus was living on sawdust. 
He didn't get any food for his soul. And yet I suppose he 
reasoned in this way : " I am a high member. I am a 
member of Sanhedrim, and if I should identify myself with 
that despised Nazarene I should lose my power and influ- 
ence." He might have become one of the Twelve had he 



126 MOODY'S NEW SJEJRMONS. 

taken the stand. We have got to stoop if we are going to 
conquer, and when a man is not willing to take a low place 
to get power with God, he is not going to get it. There 
is a good deal of difference between social power, political 
power, and a kind of religious power. But these are not 
the kinds of power that I am talking about. I am talking 
about Holy Ghost power. Strength is one thing, and 
power is another. The giant of Gath had strength, but 
David had power. 

In the fourth chapter of John you will find a higher 
type of Christian: That woman that came to the well to 
get water. She got the whole well. She got so much of 
the living water that you couldn't have kept her in the 
Sanhedrim. She went back into town and told what Christ 
had done for her. She drank deeper than Nicodemus did. 
Isn't a w r ell better than just a little water? If I have a 
drop of water in a tumbler I can truly say I have water, 
but there would not be any bubbling up. 

In the seventh chapter of John you will find the highest 
type, and that is the class I want to belong to. If we could 
only just get this whole audience into the seventh chapter 
of John, this city would be turned upside down. On that 
last day He said, "If any man thirst, let him come unto 
me and drink, and out of his belly shall flow rivers of liv- 
ing water." A man once said he had a good well but for 
two things: It would dry up in summer and freeze up in 
winter. Every child of God ought to be like rivers. I 
used to quote it "river" until one day an old man asked 
me where I got the word "river." I said I found it in my 



GOD *S SER VICE AND THE HOL T SPIRIT. 1 2? 

Bible. He said he didn't find it that way in his 
Bible, that he read "rivers." And now I always say 
"rivers." Why? Eivers shall flow through men and 
women that are filled with the Holy Ghost. We have an 
idea that the apostles belonged to another race of beings. 
Not a bit of it. They got so filled with the Spirit of God 
that rivers actually flowed from them. And yon needn't 
go back to those old apostles, not even one hundred years, 
to Wesley and Whitfield. Go right back to London. 
Look at Spurgeon. For nearly forty years he preached to 
the largest congregation any man has preacher 5o since 
Christ left this earth, and his sermons have bco^ Iranslated 
into nearly every language under the tie&V?£3J On every 
Thursday thirty-thousand of his sermon were scattered 
through the world. I know that r d\< ?a the Eocky Moun- 
tains where there are no ministers," men have gathered to- 
gether and read Spurgeon's sermons. I venture to say that 
there are very few minister in Christendom that haven't 
some of Spurgeon's sermons in their libraries. He had a 
society sent oat to evangelize. He had a pastor's college 
where he had men trained who are now preaching in every 
nation in the world. I cannot begin to tell of the streams 
that flowed out from that one man. I don't believe that 
any four walls are going to hold any man's influence. It 
is the privilege of every one of us to be filled with the Holy 
Spirit's power. Now, mark you, it is a command to be 
filled. You know that for years and years we got all our 
water out of the old wells. I remember that in my day I 
had to pump, pump, pump, until that arm was ready to 



128 MOODY'S NEW SERMONS. 

drop out of its socket. And I didn't get much water out. 
"Why? Because there wasn't much in. Now, you have 
got to get water before you can get it out. Have you ever 
seen an artesian well? I don't see so many of them in the 
East as I have in the West and South, but in a great many 
places I have found them. They don't stop when they 
come to water, but go on drilling, and by and by the 
water comes to the top of the ground. But even then they 
don't stop, but go on and on, until they strike a deeper 
strata and the water comes bubbling up and up. And so 
I believe it is the true position of every child of God to be 
so filled that you haven't got to pump all the time. All 
you have to do is to open the gates and let the stream flow 
on, and on, and on. And it will never give out. All God 
wants us to do is to get filled. 

Now I want to put this question to the audience. Isn't 
it the time of need, great need? I think one of the most 
lamentable things of this day is that Satan can walk right 
into some of our best Christian homes and families and 
haul the children down into the deepest and darkest 
depths, and we haven't got the power to reach them and 
bring them back. I don't believe that it is the will of the 
Almighty that the devil should walk into my home and 
drag my children down. If we w T ere filled with the Holy 
Spirit we could call power down from heaven and save the 
tempted ones. We haven't got the Holy Ghost power. 
May God open our eyes now! Perhaps the question comes 
up : Is there any promise that we can lay hold on? Listen : 
"Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteous- 



GOB 'S 8BR VICE AND THE HOL Y SPIRIT. 129 

ness, for they shall be filled." Do you know what; 
Heaven's measure is? Good measure pressed down and 
running over. I remember when we used to sell a man a 
bushel of oats we used to take a stick and scrape over the 
top so that he shouldn't get a grain over measure. The 
Lord just shakes it down and lets it run over; and when a 
man is full of the love of God, he has power to resist 
temptation. When the heart is filled with the Holy Spirit 
and Satan comes to put in an evil thought, he throws off 
the temptation. People come to me and say, "Mr. Moody, 
don't you think you ought to preach against this and 
that?" "No," I say, "get the people baptized and it 
takes them clean out of the world." A young man came 
to me once and said, "Don't you think I ought to get out 
of the world now that I have become a Christian?" And 
I said "No. You won't have to leave the world if you 
just give a good ringing testimony for the Son of God." 
And when a man gets filled with the spirit, he won't 
always be talking about doing this thing and that thing. 
God wants to fill you. But the moment you begin to talk 
about being filled, people say, " If you are full of conceit 
and your own righteousness, full of envy, eyil and hate, 
and all those things, how is the Lord going to fill you?" 
Take this tumbler, it is filled with air, and you are won- 
dering how you are going to get the air out. (Here Mr. 
Moody poured water into the tumbler until it ran over.) 
There ! Any air there now ? " I will pour water upon him 
that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground." Is it dry 
here in this city? Let us ask God to open the gates and 



130 MOODY'S NEW SERMONS. 

let the flood come in upon us to-night. Come, friend, let 
the heart be opened to-night. Just pull back that bolt 
and let the door be thrown wide open. Say to God, "Here 
am I." And if it is real, honest desire that He should 
come, He will do so and fill you. 

When I was out in Colorado I saw strawberries and peas, 
and here and there a farm where every blade of grass was 
green and everything was fresh and blooming; but just 
over the fence there would be another farm where every- 
thing would be dried up. And I said to a man on the 
train, "What does this mean?" He looked at me and said, 
"You are a stranger here. One man brings water down 
from the mountains and waters his farm, the other man 
does not." That explained it. One had plenty, and the 
other didn't have anything. You go into some churches 
and you will find some men that are very dry, and a man 
right next to him with a sunny face and there all is fresh 
and bright. Why? Because one has got the anointing, has 
got the blessing, and the other sits there where the rain is 
pouring down and doesn't get under it at all. Let's get 
under the pierced clouds, and then just keep the heart full. 
It is no sign you are full because you were so two years ago. 
That is the trouble. A good many are trying to work with 
the anointing they got three years ago. There are a lot of 
Samsons around who have lost their hair. How many 
sermons have you heard of which you cannot remember a 
single word? What is the trouble? Why, you were not 
in the right spirit; or, perhaps, the man in the pulpit was 
not in the right spirit, and the sermon didn't lay hold on 



GOD 'S SER VICE AND THE HOL T SPIRIT. 131 

you. When the Spirit of God is in a man the fire just 
burns. Bat, thank God, although Samson lost his strength 
it came back to him. And some of you Samsons that have 
lost your power can get it back again if you will. God 
used Peter far more after He restored him than He did 
before his fall. I trust there are some here who may 
become a flame of fire. Why not? Don't you want that 
power? You can have it if you will. It is for you. The 
Lord wants to give it to every one. Let's have it. You 
will remember that after Christ rose He met His disciples 
in a little room and He raised His pierced hands and said 
"Eeceive ye the Holy Ghost." And right after that He 
said, I am now going to leave you, and I want to come 
back here and pray until you have become imbued with 
the power from on high." And one of his disciples an- 
swered, "Lord, I have the power." And then He said, 
" Ye shall receive the power after the Holy Ghost has come 
upon you." You want to wait for the power. I believe 
that is where the church has gone astray; there are hun- 
dreds of church members who never think of asking God 
for power. They are children by birth, sons and daughters 
of God, but they are without power. Let us seek this 
power. When the Holy Ghost had come, there were more 
people converted than had been during the three years of 
Christ's ministry. Oh ! I hope the Christians here to-night 
will get power and baptism, and then this whole community 
will feel the power. 

But again, the power came in the second chapter of Acts. 
I have heard a good many people say, " Why, I don't 



132 MOOD Y 'S NEW SERMONS. 

think it right to ask the Spirit to come." Didn't He come 
eighteen hundred years ago and isn't He with the church 
to-day? I honestly believe that the place might be shaken 
as it was in the second chapter of Acts. These men were 
filled with the Holy Spirit. Now people say that yon may 
preach all you like so long as you do not preach in His 
name. But those preachers couldn't get on without His 
name; it was their capital in trade, all they had. They 
had just commenced their ministry and they couldn't 
preach on science and higher criticism. They knew 
nothing about astronomy, geology and botany and I don't 
know what else that is preached about these days. All 
they knew was that Jesus Christ had lived there, they had 
seen Him die and ascend, and the Holy Ghost came upon 
them and they went about preaching in His name. I tell 
you a man might preach with all the eloquence of Demos- 
thenes and yet not touch the hearts of the people. But 
let the Holy Ghost come and there would be a mighty stir. 
Some one says, "A lie will get all around the world before 
the truth gets its boots on to contradict it." Now, mark 
ye. John and Peter were filled in the second chapter, and 
again in the fourth. Now, they had either lost some of 
their power or had greater capacity. If Peter and John 
needed to be filled again so soon after Pentecost, don't you 
think you and I need to be filled again? The house in 
Jerusalem was shaken twice. Those men were filled again 
and they preached with greater power, and I want to say 
that I haven't any sympathy with the idea that this mira- 
cle could not be repeated again. May God grant that it 



GOD >S SER VICE AND THE IIOL Y SPIRIT 133 

may be repeated. Why shouldn't there be fires here? 
Can you give a reason why? But go on. Ten years after 
there was a meeting down at Cesarea, and I believe that was 
the only meeting that was all planned in heaven. Peter 
was brought from Joppa, thirty miles away, and the people 
sat there and heard what the Lord had to say. And Peter 
stood up and preached. In the eleventh chapter of Acts he 
gives an account of that preaching ten years afterward. 

Now, if the Holy Ghost fell twice in Jerusalem, and ten 
years after in Cesarea, why shouldn't it fall to-night? 
Why shouldn't the Holy Ghost come now? I believe, if 
we could only get this cursed unbelief out of here, that 
God would lift the tide-gate and let the flood come in. 
That is what we want. People say, "What shall I do to 
get this blessing?" Give yourself up fully, wholly and 
unreservedly just now, this minute; make a complete sur- 
render and say, "Here am I, Lord, take me and use me 
for thyself," and I tell you, if the motive is pure and for 
the glory of God, the blessing will come. But if you 
are selfish about it and want it just for your own sake, you 
are going to be disappointed. A great many mothers are 
mourning because their children are not saved. Do they 
ever mourn because other children are unsaved? Are we 
not selfish? 

If any of you to-night really want this blessing and feel 
down deep in your hearts that you must have it, and you 
are going to lay yourself out for it, I would like to pray 
with you for it. I see some aged men here. Wouldn't 
you like to leave a ray of light behind you? Wouldn't you 



134 MOOD Y'8 NEW SERMONS. 

like to see all your children and grandchildren gathered 
into the kingdom before yon go? Before yon go, wouldn't 
yon like to see the kingdom extended right here in yonr 
midst? There is not a man so old bnt that God can nse 
yon. Come. There are none so yonng that God cannot 
use yon. 

Yon remember that when Elijah was to be taken up, he 
was down at Gilgal with Elisha. And Elijah said unto 
Elisha, "Tarry here, for I go to Bethel;" but Elisha said, 
"As the Lord liveth, I will not leave thee." So the two 
prophets went down to Bethel. When they had reached 
there a young man came up to Elisha and said, "Do you 
know that your master is to be taken away to-day?" And 
Elisha said, "Hold your peace, I know all about it." Pres- 
ently Elijah turned to Elisha and said, " Tarry here, for 
the Lord hath sent me to Jericho." But Elisha replied, 
"As the Lord liveth, I will not leave thee." I have often 
wished that that whole story had been put on record. And 
when they came to Jordan there w r ere fifty men there. 
Elijah took off his mantle and smote the waters and the 
river divided and Elijah and Elisha passed over on dry 
ground. And w r hen they had gone over Elijah said to 
Elisha, " Ask what I shall do for thee before I be taken away 
from thee." And Elisha asked for a double portion of his 
spirit. Elijah answered, "Thou hast asked a hard thing, 
but if you see me when I am taken up it shall be so." Do 
you suppose Elisha lost sight of Elijah? Oh! no. Where 
Elijah went, there Elisha was to be found, but as they were 
journeying along a whirlwind came up and they were sepa- 



GOD *S SEE VICE AND THE HOL Y SPIRIT. 135 

rated. I see Elisha digging the sand out of his eyes, and 
he happened to see something in the air, and he looked up 
and there was Elijah. And he shouted, "My father, my 
father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof!" 
And he rent his own clothes. Men, rend your mantle. 
You are nothing, get down in the dust. And he took up 
the mantle of Elijah and smote the waters and passed over. 
Now, I am afraid that if Elisha had been some of us he 
would have said, "I am the same old Elisha. I expected 
to feel a sensation. I thought I should have a stroke." 
Man, take God at His word. "Blessed are they that hun- 
ger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." 
Claim that promise. God can raise up witnesses right out 
of stone if he wants to. Elisha got all he went for, because 
he dared to ask. Let us go in for a double portion. Don't 
you want it? What is the use of living at this dying rate 
that we sing and talk about? The Lord has plenty. He 
delights to give. Let us take up the duty of receiving just 
now. Let us pray the Lord God of heaven to fill us. 
Let us pray to have the fruit come. 



136 MOODY'S NEW SERMONS. 



ELEMENTS OP TRUE PEAYEE. 

This afternoon I want to call your attention to the sub- 
ject of prayer. As this is the week of prayer we want, if 
possible, to get into the spirit of prayer and into sympathy 
with those who are praying. If there is to be a great, deep, 
thorough, lasting work it is going to be in answer to 
prayer. 

I have no sympathy with this idea that if we ask God to 
do a certain work He is going to give us chaff. If we have 
faith to claim, I believe He will answer our prayers. I 
don't believe He mocks His children. I believe He will 
give out of His abundance, and give us the very best He 
has. Now, I have no doubt but that a great many of you 
have said at different times, "What is the use of prayer 
anyway?" Sometimes when I have prayed it has seemed 
as if the heavens were closed over me. It seems as if God 
does not hear. My words all seem to come back to me. 
Haven't you often felt that way? I see some of you giving 
your assent to that. Now, in answer to that, let me say, 
in the first place, Jesus Christ is an example for us. We 
profess to be His disciples. Well, remember that as a man 
He prayed. As God He answers prayers. The key to 
Christ's character and life is this, He was a God-Man. At 
times He spoke as God, at times as a man. At times He 



ELEMENTS OF TR UE Pit A TEE. 137 

acted as a man. At times as God. But there is one thing, 
you will find His life all through His ministry was filled 
with prayer, and there was no great event in His life that 
was not preceded by prayer. All through His public 
ministry you will find Him often in prayer, and every great 
event of His life, as I said before, was preceded by prayer. 
I was a Christian a good many years before I noticed that 
He was praying at His baptism, but the Bible tells us that 
He came out of the water praying. The Spirit came in 
answer to prayer, and the voice that came from heaven 
saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well 
pleased," was a response to prayer. The night preceding 
the most marvelous sermon He preached while on earth 
you will notice He spent in prayer. There were about 
fifteen thousand sermons in that one. When He went up 
into the mountain and was transfigured we find that He 
was praying when His visage was changed. He had on 
that heavenly glory because His Father was to visit Him. 
Then we read in the twelfth chapter of John that He was 
praying again that God might glorify His name, and in 
Gethsemane He was praying and sweating, as it were, great 
drops of blood when the angel came. The angel came, 
not when He was uttering some parable or preaching some 
sermon, but when He was praying. And if you and I are 
going to hear from heaven it will be when we are praying. 
I have often said that I had rather be able to pray like 
Daniel than preach like Gabriel. What we want is men 
and women that know how to pray, who know how to call 
fire down from heaven. Man, have you that power with 



138 MOOD Y'S NEW SERMONS. 

God in prayer? Now, when I say men, I mean men and 
women. Some of you think that you cannot do much in 
this work, and you have said: "I wish I were stronger. 
I wish I was not so confined to my household duties." 
But I want to say that you may accomplish just as much 
if yon cannot come out to any of the meetings. It may be 
that some bedridden saint in this city may do more toward 
bringing down fire than all the pastors put together. I 
went to London in '72 just to spend three or four months, 
and one night I spoke in a prayer meeting. I went into a 
Congregational church and I preached with no unusual 
power. There didn't seem to be anything out of the regu- 
lar line in the service. In fact, I was a little disappointed. 
I didn't seem to have much liberty there. That evening, 
at 6:30, I preached to men. There seemed to be great 
power. It seemed as if the building was filled with the 
glory of God, and I asked for an expression when I got 
through. They rose by the hundreds. I said, "They 
don't know what this means," so I thought I would put 
another test. I just asked them to step back into the 
chapel — all those that wanted to become Christians, but no 
one else. They flocked into the chapel by the hundreds. 
I was in great perplexity, I couldn't understand what it 
meant. I went down to Dublin the next day, and on 
Tuesday morning I got a dispatch saying, " Come to Lon- 
don at once and help us." I didn't know what to make of 
it, but I hastened back to London and labored there ten 
days, and there were four hundred names recorded at that 
time. For montks I could not understand what it meant, 



ELEMENTS OF TRUE PRA YER. \ 3 9 

but by and by I found out. There was in that church a 
poor bedridden woman, and she used to take different 
ones upon her heart, and she began to pray God to revive 
the whole church. She began to pray God to send me to 
that church. On Sunday morning her sister came home 
and said, "Who do you think preached for us this morn- 
ing!" She guessed a number of ministers that had been in 
the habit of exchanging with the pastor, and finally gave 
it up. The sister said, " It was Mr. Moody, from America." 
The poor woman turned pale and said, "I know what that 
means, that is in answer to prayer. There is going to be a 
great work here." The servants brought up her dinner, 
but she said, "No, no dinner for me to-day, I spend this 
day in prayer." And that night while I was preaching she 
was praying, and in answer to her prayers the power of 
God just fell upon the audience. 

My dear friends, I believe that when God's books are 
opened there will be some hidden one that will be much 
nearer the throne than you and I are. 

And now at the beginning of this week, let us pray God 
to give us the spirit of prayer. Let us expect great things, 
and we will not be disappointed if our expectations are 
from God. Let our expectations be from Him, not from 
man. If you look to man you are going to be disappointed, 
but God will never disappoint you. Bring your burden 
here and pray it out before God, and ask Him to do great 
and mighty things. 

Now I want to call your attention to the elements of all 
true prayer. You know Christ never taught His disciples 



140 MOODY'S NEW SERMONS. 

how to preach. When Christ got His theological students 
around Him, He taught them how to pray. And I think 
we often ought to make that prayer, "Lord teach us how 
to pray." I won't have time to go through all of them, 
but I will take them up again. 

First, there is contrition. I am sometimes ashamed of 
myself to think how fluent I am when I go into the pres- 
ence of God. As if God was on an equal footing with me, 
or rather as if I was on an equal footing with God — as if 
there was no difference between us. Let us bear in mind 
that God is holy. The nearer we get to Him the more we 
will think of His holiness and abhor ourselves. We will 
grow smaller and He larger. One of the truest signs that 
a man is growing great is that God increases and he 
decreases. Why, some people will talk about themselves 
by the yard. "I, I, I, I." There will be forty-nine Ps in 
a speech five minutes long. That is a sign that you are 
not growing in grace, but are growing in conceit. But 
when we get near to God, how small we look, and how great 
God seems! And you remember when Isaiah saw God he 
cried, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts." And then 
what did he cry? That he was unclean and dwelt with 
unclean people, and he wanted the coal to be taken from 
off the altar and put upon his lips that his iniquity might 
be purged away. Now, it is one thing to hear God, but 
when we see Him it will be another thing, and let us keep 
it in mind that contrition is the first thing. You remem- 
ber that when Christ taught His disciples to pray, He said, 
"Our Father." 



EL EVENTS OF TR UE PRA TEE. HI 

Then the next thing that follows is the confession of our 
sins. There is no true prayer without confession. As 
long as we have unconfessed sin in our soul we are not 
going to have power with God in prayer. He says if we 
regard iniquity in our hearts He will not hear us, much 
less answer. As long as we are living in any known sin we 
have no power in prayer. God is not going to hear it. It 
is a prayerless prayer and an abomination to God and man. 
What God wants is reality. Xow if there is some sin we 
have hidden in our hearts that we are not willing to con- 
fess, then of course we cannot pray. Put the question to 
yourself, can you pray? I don't mean to go through a 
form, but have you power with God in prayer? How 
many times do you hear people get up in prayer meeting 
to pray, but there is no power in it? If a man doesn't 
treat his wife right he needn't pray. It is all a farce, you 
know. He says the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomina- 
tion to God. If sacrifice is an abomination to God, do 
you tell me that the prayers of a man or woman who is not 
living right is not an abomination to God? Xow^ you must 
bear in mind that there must be true confession before we 
are going to have an answer to prayer. . Xot to confess and 
then go and do the same thing over again, but just turn 
from the sin. 

My dear friend, if there is anything in your life that is 
wrong, make up your mind that you are not going to let 
the sun go down before you confess it. Let me read you 
a few verses from the 32d Psalm. "Blessed is he whose 
transgression is forgiven " " There is no confession up 



142 MOOD Y'S NEW SERMONS. 

to this time. He didn't prosper because he would not con- 
fess." (First to the fifth verse.) But now notice, "I 
acknowledge my sin unto thee, and my iniquity have I not 
hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the 
Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin." See! 
just the moment he confessed, the Lord forgave, and then 
it was that he had power with God in prayer. 

Now, the next true element to prayer is restitution. It is 
folly for us to ask God to do something for us that we can 
do for ourselves. I don't believe that we preach restitu- 
tion enough. If I have five dollars in my pocket that 
belongs to some one else and I try to cheat him out of it, 
can I pray? You will find men who are cheating their 
neighbors, and they cannot pray, it won't work at all. 
What we want to-day is a revival of righteousness, a revival 
of uprightness. I sometimes hear a man say, "Hallelu- 
jah," and it is like a file right across my nerves. I look 
into his face and know that it is not real. Now, "Halle- 
lujah " comes in all right if it proceeds from the heart. I 
don't object to a thing of that kind once in a while, just 
a little of it; but to have a man that is not living right, to 
have him come and make a great noise about religion — it 
is an abomination to God and man. Up in the north of 
England a lady came into one of the after meetings. She 
was greatly troubled, and I talked with her a number of 
days and found out what her trouble was. "I cannot 
pray. I get down onto my knees to pray, but five bottles 
of wine come up before me, and I cannot see the face of 
the Lord." She told that when she was housekeeper for a 



EL EMENTS F TR TIE PR A YER. 143 

wealthy gentleman in his sickness, she stole five bottles of 
wine, and every time since then when she got down on her 
knees to pray, up would come the five bottles of wine. 
"Did you ever make restitution?" "No." "Well, you 
must confess and make restitution to that man before you 
will be able to pray." "Why," she said, "have I got to 
confess that?" "Not only confess, but you must make 
restitution." Oh! but she couldn't do that, though next 
day she came back and said, "Now, if I give that money to 
the church, won't that do just as well?" "Why no, the 
Lord does not want any stolen money. It is not yours to 
give. There is only one way when you have done wrong 
to make it right and that is to confess your sins, and, if it 
is in your power, make restitution." Finally she felt as if 
she could not carry the burden any longer and she took the 
train to the home of this man's son and told him the story 
of her sin and handed him the money to pay for the wine. 
He said: "I don't want the money." And she said: 
"Well, 1 don't want it." Finally he said: "I will take it 
and pnt it into the treasury of the church." Before she 
went away she said she didn't know whether she was in the 
flesh or out of it. She had gotten rid of the five bottles of 
wine. Man, if there is something wrong in your life, make 
restitution. Trade ofi the old lame horse for a good one. 
Go and make restitution. Those kind of things speak 
louder than any sermons; that's the kind of Christianity 
that we want. Supposing it does cost you something. I 
never saw a man or woman that was willing to do these 
things for God that didn't receive a blessing. I know this 



144 MOOD Y'S NEW SERMONS. 

to be true. If some one has wronged yon, yon want them 
to make it right, don't yon? There was a man in the 
south of Ireland who got right up and went out of the 
meeting, went clear up to the north of Ireland and paid 
man after man hundreds of pounds that he had cheated 
them out of. I believe there are a good many men and 
women who have no power at all because there is something 
in their lives that doesn't please God. 

Now, the next element is forgiveness. I tell you there 
are more people that stumble right there and lose their 
power than anywhere else. Now, if I do not forgive just 
as I want God to forgive me then I cannot pray. That is 
the reason why a good many people cannot pray. A man 
said to me some time ago, "We have a magnificent organ, a 
wealthy and cultured preacher, but we have not had a man 
converted in our church. Can you tell me why?" "Yes, 
there are half a dozen families in your church who are not 
on speaking terms, and the Holy Ghost cannot work." 
God cannot stultify himself. He says he cannot work. If 
there is any one you are not willing to forgive, don't you 
see that you have broken down the bridge, and how are you 
going to get over yourself? Now, if there is any one here 
who has had trouble with some one and has not forgiven 
him, he may be excused. Get right up and go now, and 
have it settled before the sun goes down. Oh, that flood 
gates may be lifted up so that the flood may come in! 
Perhaps you have had a row with your stepmother or 
father, or your own natural mother, perhaps; perhaps you 
have some falling out with your minister — he may be here 



EL EMENTS OF Til XI E PR A TER. \ 45 

on the platform ; have an interview with him before yon 
go out of this hall. Get these things settled. Some of 
you look pretty cross now, perhaps I have hit you. That 
is what I am here for. Yon want to know why your prayers 
are not answered, and I am just trying to tell yon. God 
delights to answer prayer. But you cannot deceive your- 
self. If you are living a dishonorable life God hides His 
face and will not hear you. Are there any bottles of wine 
in the way? Come, that is the question, and may God 
help you to answer it honestly. 



146 MOOD T tt NEW SERMONS. 



THY WILL, NOT MINE, BE DONE. 

You that were here yesterday afternoon remember that 
I was speaking about the true elements of prayer. I was 
trying to show that there were ten elements to all true 
prayer. The first was contrition, the second confession, the 
third restitution and the fourth forgiveness; the fifth is 
unity. You do not know unless you have been in the old 
country, in England, what a wall is built up between the 
church and what they call "dissenters." You men who 
have traveled there know what I am talking about. They 
do not call men ministers unless they belong to the Episco- 
pal church. Spurgeon was not looked upon as a clergyman 
because he did not belong to the Church of England. 
There was one of those wealthy clergymen who told me 
himself that if he saw a dissenting minister coming down 
on the same sidewalk, if it was convenient, he would hap- 
pen on the other side. He had been taught that they were 
enemies of the church of God. Well, he went up to a 
meeting in the north of England where the brethren met 
to pray, and he got such a blessing that he came down to 
his own parish, and the first thing he did was to go through 
the whole parish, and pray with all the leading dissenters. 
I got an invitation to go down to this place to preach. I 
found a tent that would hold as many people as there are 




MR. MOODY'S CHURCH IN CHICAGO. 



THY WILL, NOT MINE, BE DONE. 147 

here, and I found that this clergyman and all the dissent- 
ing ministers were working harmoniously together, and 
since this had begun there had been more conversions than 
there had been for years. This clergyman told me that 
the man that was nearest to him and whom he loved most 
in that whole parish was an independent preacher. He 
found out that that dissenting man could be just as godly 
and good as any preachers in his own denomination. I do 
wish that we could get these miserable sectarian walls 
down. I tell you, you get the Christians all united and 
Christianity is like a great flood. It says that on the day 
of Pentecost there was unity. "We are making progress. 
I thank God for that. These walls are tumbling down. 
Twenty -five years ago you could not have had a meeting 
like this here. You could not have had all these ministers 
up on this platform. There would have been condescen- 
sion enough to ruin the whole thing. You might have got 
them on the same platform, but a Baptist would have got 
up and said, "I am a Baptist, and I want you to understand 
that I have condescended to come up here and speak." And 
then up would get an Episcopalian and say that he 
"had condescended to speak with the other brethren." 
But that has gone by. Since I have been here we 
have been getting all mixed up here, and I believe that 
it is the way it will be in heaven. You won't know a 
Methodist when you get there. All "out and out Chris- 
tians," you know. The nearer we get to the Lord, the less 
we will talk about these differences. We have got to climb 
the ladder. Every true child of God ought to pray for 



148 MOOD rs NEW SERMONS. 

unity, brotherly love. It is a beautiful sight to see all 
these ministers here representing the different churches. 

Another element to true prayer is thanksgiving. " With 
thanksgiving let your requests be made known." I think 
we would get a hundred times more from the Lord than 
we do if we would only be thankful. There is more said 
in the Bible about praise than prayer. There was a man 
who got up in one of our meetings and said he had lived on 
Grumble street for a long while, but finally he moved on 
to Thanksgiving street. I do dread these men who are 
always grumbling. 

Spurgeon said he hoped the grass would grow over their 
graves, but if it did it would be the first thing that had 
ever grown near them. We want to be thankful. There 
was a man in our church in Chicago whom I never saw 
when he did not have a smile on his face. He was always 
ready with " Bless the Lord," and it was not a hollow sham. 
It came from the bottom of his soul. One day he cut his 
thumb off and that very night we had a weekly prayer- 
meeting. He was there with his lame hand and he got up 
and said, "Bless the Lord. I cut my thumb to-day but I 
didn't cut it clear off." If it had been most of us it would 
have been a mournful story. Be thankful for what you 
have. Let us look out that we are not one of the class 
who come to the Lord constantly for favors and never 
thank Him. 

Then another element is perseverance. Now I don't 
like to be teased; I suppose you don't. I don't know 
why, but somehow or other the Lord seems to like it. He 



THY WILL, NOT MINE, BE DONE. 149 

likes to have us press our cause and what we want is to 
pray on and never faint. There is no gauge to God's 
promises. You may pray for weeks, or months, or years; 
you may go down to your grave, and your prayers may not 
all be answered, but perhaps around your coffin that way- 
ward boy may be converted. We are instructed to pray 
and never cease. Pray right on. And if we get discour- 
aged, we are disobeying God and are not doing what the 
Lord would like to have us do. I heard in England about 
a wife who said she would give up one hour of the day and 
go to her room and pray for her husband who was a skeptic. 
She prayed for twelve months but no answer came. She 
said, "Can I give him up? No, I will pray six months 
longer." So she went on praying for that time, and at the 
end of the six months not a ray of hope, not a change that 
she could see. And she said again, "Shall I give him up?" 
She came to this conclusion, that she would pray for him 
as long as he lived. That very day when he came home 
he went upstairs and when the time came for the dinner to 
be put on the table he did not come down. Finally she 
went up to the room where she had been praying for eight- 
een months that he might be saved and she found him 
on his knees praying to God to save him. "When I was 
over in England the last time I found he had built a 
church on his own land. I venture to say that there are a 
good many of you who can remember how you prayed for a 
long time without any answer. I remember, during the 
war, at Nashville a soldier came tome trembling from head 
to foot. I thought perhaps he had been drinking. He 



1 50 MOOD 7 'S NEW SERMONS. 

took a soiled piece of paper out of his pocket and said, "I 
wish you would read that." It went on to tell that his 
sister had been praying for him ever since he had been in 
the army. " Sometimes it seemed as if my heart would break 
to think that my brother was in the army and might be 
shot down any time without hope." He said, "I believe I 
am the worst man in the army. I have had the shot and 
shell whiz past me without turning pale, but 1 got that 
letter last night and I have not slept a wink since I got it." 
It was all soiled with tears. I talked to him and had the 
joy of leading him into the light. That sister held right 
on and the Lord answered her prayer. That is persever- 
ance. It was a hard case, but the Lord answered her 
prayer. So let us keep it in mind, that if we are going to 
have power with God, we have got to persevere. 

Then, another true element to prayer is faith. We must 
believe that our prayers are going to be answered. If we 
have complied with the conditions, then let us look for 
fulfillment. But mark ye, here is a mistake that people 
make, and a great mistake, too; they have an idea that 
God does not answer prayer if he doesn't say "yes." I 
have three children, and I want them on such terms with 
me that they will ask me for anything they want. But I 
tell you they don't get everything they want. Not by a 
good deal. We want to keep it in mind that when we get 
an answer it may be in the negative. Did you ever know 
the three men that take up the most room in Scripture 
prayed often? Take Moses, he prayed earnestly, he prayed 
that the Lord would let him go into the promised land. 



THY WILL, NOT MINE, BE DONE. 151 

For forty years that servant had been leading the people 
through the wilderness, yet the Lord would not let him go 
into the promised land. Didn't the Lord love him? He 
finally said, "Now Moses, don't you speak to me any more 
about that matter, let it rest." He never mentioned it 
after that, but I tell you, I don't believe there was a man 
on the earth at that time that God loved as he did Moses. 
Fifteen years after he answered Moses' prayer. He did 
not get his prayers answered just when he wanted them 
answered, but in God's own good time. He wouldn't let 
any archangel or even Gabriel bury him when he died. 
And do you tell me God didn't love Moses? Take Elijah! 
He knew how to pray. When he got under that juniper 
tree and prayed that he might die, like a coward, God 
didn't let him die. The only man that didn't pray he 
might die was the very man w 7 ho did die. God took him 
to heaven. Xow, you take Paul. Thrice Paul prayed 
that the Lord might take the thorn out of his flesh. We 
do not know what the thorn was and perhaps it is a good 
thing we don't. Lots of people get a good deal of comfort 
out of that. The Lord did not see fit to remove the thorn. 
Anything that would bring Paul np nearer God was just 
the thing he wanted. And so he got his prayers answered, 
but not in the way he wanted. 

Then another true element to prayer is petition. You 
know a good many people pray and don't make any peti- 
tion. I have heard men pray in this way; telling God how 
great and good, and wonderful he was, and not a petition 
in the prayer from beginning to end. There was a man in 



152 MOOD Y'S NEW SERMONS. 

England who got up in meeting and made one of those 
wonderful prayers, but there was no petition in it. And 
there was a poor, godly saint who could not stand it any 
longer, and she cried out, "Ask Him for something." 
Now that is just it. "Ask, and ye shall receive, knock, 
and it shall be opened unto you." That is a promise, now 
let's lay hold of it. You know there are people who will 
tell you it doesn't do any good to pray further than to teach 
us submission. You can ask, and you won't get any- 
thing, but it is a healthy excuse. That is a nice way to 
mock a poor heart-broken mother, isn't it? It teaches 
you submission. I am sorry to say, I am almost ashamed 
to say it, but that is the argument of a great many skeptics. 
And a good many ministers preach and teach it. " You 
cannot expect that the laws which have been fixed will even 
be changed." I tell you I like to go right straight to the 
fountain head and see what he says: "Seek and you shall 
find." I believe he means it. I have asked, haven't you? 
I have been answered, haven't you? What can these 
skeptics and infidels tell you about prayer? They don't 
know anything about it themselves. Supposing there 
came a snow storm, and a man comes to my house at mid- 
night and knocks at the door. I throw open the window, 
put my head out and say, "What do you want?" "There 
has been a blockade up here and the people have no place 
to go to. v ' "Well, I am sorry to tell you that my laws are 
fixed. I have made a law that when I lock my doors at 
night I never open them." Don't you call that downright 
mockery? Now there are some of God's blessings that you 



THY WILL, NOT MINE, BE DONE. 153 

get just by asking, and there are others you have to seek 
for. Perhaps there is something wrong in your life. God 
wants to bring that out right. God's best gifts are kept 
under lock and key. I tell you if you are going to get 
them you have got to knock. The promise is "If you 
knock, it shall be opened unto you." Keep on knocking. 
Importunity has three names— asking, seeking and 
knocking. 

The last element is submission. Now if we have spread 
our requests before the Lord, then just say, " Thy will be 
done." Now that is the last element to every true prayer. 
Keep that in mind. We very often set our wills against 
God's. That will be our ruin perhaps. Let the will of 
God be done. I cannot look a day into the future, and I 
would not dare to take the responsibility. It is far better 
for us to say "Thy will, not mine, be done." That is the 
last element to true prayer. Submission! Submission! 
One of the sweetest lessons that I have learned since I have 
been in Christ's school is just to be submissive, and let 
Him choose for me. I tell Him what I want, but when I 
get through I like to say, "Now, Lord, you know best, Thy 
will be done." I learned a lesson once from my little girl. 
She was always teasing me for a great big doll. She had a 
lot of dolls around the house without heads, some without 
arms, some without legs, but she wanted a great big doll. 
You know if a man has an only daughter he is rather soft, 
(and they find it out, you know), so she was determined to 
get that big doll. One day I had a good streak come over 
me and I took her to a toy shop to get her a doll, but as 



154 MOOD Y'S NEW SERMONS. 

we went in the door we saw a basket of little china dolls. 
"Oh, papa, isn't that the cutest little doll you ever saw?" 
"Yes, yes." "Well, won't you buy it?" "Well, now 
Emma, let me choose this time." "Oh, no, papa, I just 
want this little doll." I paid a nickle for the doll and 
took her home. After the newness had worn off the doll 
was left with all the others. I said, "Emma, do you know 
what I was going to do that day when I took you into the 
toy shop and you selected that little china doll?" "No, 
papa." "Well, I was going to buy you one of those great 
big ones." "You were, why didn't you do it?" "Because 
you wouldn't let me. You remember you wanted that 
little doll and you would have it." The little thing saw the 
point and she bit her lips and did not say anything more. 
From that day to this I cannot get her to say what she 
wants. When I was going to Europe the last time I asked 
her what she wanted me to bring her, and she said "Any- 
thing you like." 

It is far better to let God choose for us than to choose for 
ourselves. "Thy will, not mine, be done." 



TRUST IN GOD BRINGS PERFECT PEACE. 155 



TRUST IN GOD BRINGS PERFECT PEACE. 

I want to call your attention to one of the promises that 
Jesus Christ left us. I cannot say that it is the best, but 
I think that I can honestly say it is one of the best. 

Some years ago a gentleman came to me and asked me 
which I thought was the most precious promise of all those 
that Christ left. I took some time to look over the promises 
that Christ left us, but I gave up the job. I found that I 
could not answer the question. It is like a man with a 
large family of children, he cannot tell which he likes best; 
he loves them all. But this is one of the sweetest promises 
of all. " Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind 
is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee." There are 
a good many people who think the promises are not going 
to be fulfilled. There are some that you do see fulfilled, 
and you cannot help but believe they are true. Now 
remember that all the promises are not given without con- 
ditions; some promises are given with and others without 
conditions attached to them. For instance, it says, "If 
I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me. 5 ' 
Now, I need not pray as long as I am cherishing some 
known sin. The Lord says in the 84th Psalm, "No good 
thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." 
Then there are promises without conditions. He promised 



156 MOODY'S NEW SERMONS. 

Adam and Eve that the world should have a Saviour, and 
there was no power on earth or perdition that could keep 
Christ from coming at the appointed time. When Christ 
left the world he said he would send us the Holy Ghost. 
He had only been gone ten days when the Holy Ghost 
came. And so you can run right through the Scriptures 
and you will find that some of the promises are with and 
some without conditions; and if we don't comply with the 
conditions we cannot expect them to be fulfilled. 

I believe it will be the experience of every man and 
woman on the face of the earth. I believe that every one 
will be obliged to testify in the evening of life that if we 
have complied with the condition the Lord has fulfilled 
his work to the letter. I believe you could cleave the ocean 
easier than break one of God's promises. So when we 
come to a promise like the one we have before us to-day I 
want you to bear in mind that there is no discount upon it. 
You will find it in the closing of the eleventh chapter of 
Matthew. " Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy 
laden and I will give you rest." 

If you probe the human heart you will find in that heart 
a want, and that want is rest. The cry of the world to- 
day is, " Where can rest be found." Why are your theaters 
and places of amusement crowded at night? Because 
people expect to get rest there. That is what people are 
after — rest. Some think they are going to get it in pleas- 
ure, others think they are going to get it in wealth, and 
others in literature. They are seeking and finding no rest. 
Now I don't believe there is but one place in this dark 



TRUST IN GOD BRINGS PERFECT PEACE. 157 

world where you can find rest. If Fwanted to find a man 
who had rest I would not go among the very wealthy. 
The man that w r e read of in the twelfth chapter of Luke 
thought he was going to get rest by multiplying his goods, 
but he was disappointed. I will venture to say that there 
is not a person in this wide world that has tried to find rest 
in that way and found it. The man or woman that is 
looking after the last fashion doesn't get rest to his soul. 
If I wanted to find a person who had rest, 1 would not go 
among the pleasure seekers. They have a few hours of 
enjoyment, but the next day there will be enough to upset 
it all. You may have a cup of pleasure to-day, and a cup 
of sorrow to-morrow. That's the way it is with the world. 
Now I will tell you this, if I wanted to find a man or 
woman that had rest, I would go to some one that has 
heard the voice of Jesus saying, " Come unto me and I will 
give you rest." I will venture to say that if I should put 
it to vote here to-day that there are not less than a thousand 
people who would spring to their feet and say that they 
found rest at the foot of the cross. 

Do you know that for four thousand years no prophet 
nor priest nor patriarch ever stood up and uttered a text 
like the one we have before us to-day? I think it would 
be blasphemy for Moses to have uttered a text like this. 
Supposing that great lawgiver had stood up and uttered 
such a text? Do you think he had rest when he was teas- 
ing the Lord to let him go into the promised land? Do you 
think Elijah could have uttered such a text as this? And 
this is one of the strongest proofs that Jesus Christ was not 



158 MOODY 8 NEW SERMONS. 

only man, but he was God. He was God-Man, and this is 
Heaven's proclamation, " Come unto me and I will give 
you rest." He brought it down from heaven with Him. 
I thank God for the word "give" in that passage. He 
doesn't sell it. Some of us are so poor that we could not 
buy it if it was for sale. I venture to say that there are 
thousands of men to-day who would give their millions if 
they could buy rest. Thank God, we can get it for 
nothing. 

Now, if this text was not true, don't you think it would 
have been found out by this time? I believe it as much as 
I believe in my existence. Why? Because I not only find 
it in the book, but in my own experience. I like to have 
a text like this, because it takes us all in. " Come unto me 
all." That doesn't mean a select few — you refined ladies 
and cultured men. It doesn't mean you good people only. 
This text applies to saint and sinner. If you cannot come 
a saint, come a sinner. Only come! A lady told me once 
that she was so hard hearted she couldn't come. "Well," 
I said, "my good woman, it doesn't say all ye soft hearted 
people come. Black hearts, vile hearts, hard hearts, soft 
hearts, all hearts come." Who can soften it but Himself? 
The harder the heart the more need you have to come. If 
you can prove that you are a sinner you are entitled to the 
promise. Get all the benefit you can out of it. Now, you 
know that there are a good many people who think this 
text applies to sinners. It is just the thing for them, too. 
You know, I think that this text applies to saints as much 
as it does to sinners, because what do we see to-day? Why! 



TRUST IN GOD BRINGS PERFECT PEACE. 159 

the church, Christian people, all loaded down with cares 
and troubles. "Come unto me all ye that labor," all! I 
believe that means that Christian whose heart is burdened 
with some great sorrow. The Lord wants you to come. 

It says in another place, " Casting all your care upon 
Him, for He careth for you." I tell you what, we would 
have a victorious church if we could get Christian people 
to realize that. Some people go back into the past and 
rake up all the troubles they ever had, and then they look 
into the future and anticipate that they will have still more 
trouble, and they go reeling and staggering all through 
life. They give you the cold chills every time they meet 
you; they will put on a whining voice and tell you what 
"a hard time they have had." The Lord says, "Cast ail 
your care on me; I want to carry your burdens and your 
troubles." There are some of those people here to-day, I 
can tell by their looks. What we want is a joyful church, 
and we are not going to reach the world until we have it. 
We want to get this long-faced Christianity off the face of 
the earth. You take these people that have some great 
burden and let them come into a meeting like this and if 
you can get their attention upon the singing or preaching 
they will say, "Oh, wasn't it grand. I forgot all my 
cares." And they just drop their bundle. But the mo- 
ment the benediction is pronounced they grab the bundle 
again. You laugh, but you will do it here to-day. "Cast 
your care on Him." 

Then sometimes you go into your closet and close your 
door and you get so carried away and lifted up that you 



160 MOODY'S NEW SERMONS. 

forget your troubles; but you just take it up again tha 
moment you get off your knees. Leave your sorrow here 
to-day, cast all your care upon him. If you cannot come 
to Christ as a saint, come as a sinner. But if you are a 
saint with some trouble or care, bring it to Him. Saint 
and sinner come! He wants you all. He doesn't want a 
woman to go out of here to-day carrying a sorrow or bur- 
den. Don't let Satan believe you cannot come if you will. 
Christ says, "Ye will not come unto Me." With the com- 
mand comes the power. A man in one of our meetings in 
Europe said he would like to come, but he was chained 
and couldn't come. A Scotchman said to him, "Ay, man, 
why don't you come chain and all?" He said, "I never 
thought of that." 

Are you cross and peevish and do you make things un- 
pleasant at home? My friend, come to Christ and ask 
him to help you. Whatever the sin is, bring it to Him. 
Don't let any one say you can't, for you can. The only 
thing you must do is to bring him your sin, your burden 
and your cross. That is the only thing that will be accept- 
able. 

There is another passage that I would like to lay along- 
side of this: "Him that cometh unto Me, I will in nowise 
cast out." Come unto Him now. I have no sympathy 
with this idea that a sinner must wait to come. Does God 
say, "I didn't mean you, you are too black and vile?" I 
remember trying to lead a man to Christ in Chicago, a 
good many years ago, and I took him to a good many 
promises, but finally I took him to this one: "Do you 



TRUST IN ODD BRINGS PERFECT PEACE. 161 

believe Christ said that?" "I suppose he did." "Suppose 
he did, do you believe it?" "I hope so." "Hope so; do 
you believe it?" You do your work and the Lord will do 
His. Just come as you are, and throw yourself upon His 
bosom and He will not cast you out. This man thought it 
was too simple and easy. Take Him at His word. Finally 
he said, "I will," and he went with me and consecrated 
himself to the Lord. When I shook hands with him I said, 
"Now, you will have a conflict to-morrow, Satan will not 
let you off. When you get up in the morning he will 
tempt you, but don't listen to him; say, 'If it was true 
last night, it will always be true.' " He said he would not 
be tempted. Bat the tempter came in an unexpected 
manner, before I thought he would, he came that night. 
It is a good thing to take a promise like this and walk 
right out upon it. Satan comes and says, "Do you feel 
it?" I don't always feel the same when I am away, but 
there is one thing I can believe, I can take one of these 
promises and lay hold of it and believe it — every one of you 
can do it. Perhaps some of you say, "Mr. Moody, I wish 
you would tell us what it is to come." The best definition 
I know is to come. The more you try to explain it the 
more you are mystified. About the first thing a mother 
does is to teach her child to look. At noontime she takes 
the child to the window and says, "Look, baby, see papa 
coming." You are taught to come before you remember. 
You don't want any minister to tell you what it is to come. 
We have got something worth more than a thousand dol- 
lars, and you can have it if you wish. Christ is not mock- 



162 MOOD 7 'S NEW SERMONS. 

ing yon, he wants you to come, not with any feeling or 
emotion, only come, that's all. Now, will yon come? I 
tell yon what I think it means to take np the cross. If 
yon are going to get rest yon will get it at the cross. Do 
yon ask me what that is? I don't know. I don't know 
what yonr cross may be; it may be to go iiome and tell a 
godless hnsband that yon have made np your mind to 
serve God. 

I was preaching in Chicago to a hall full of women one 
Sunday afternoon, and after the meeting was over a lady 
came to me and said she wanted to talk to me. She said 
she would accept Christ, and after some conversation she 
went home. I looked for her for a whole week, but didn't 
see her until the Sunday afternoon. She came and sat 
down right in front of me and her face had such a sad 
expression. After the meeting was over I went to her and 
asked her what the trouble was. She said: "Oh, Mr. 
Moody, this has been the most miserable week of my life." 
I asked her if there was any one whom she had had trouble 
with and whom she could not forgive. She said: "No, 
not that I know of." "Well, did yon tell your friends 
about having found the Saviour?" "Indeed I didn't, I 
have been all the week trying to keep it from them." 
"Well," I said, "that is the reason why you haie no 
peace." She wanted to take the crown, but didn't want 
the cross. My friends, you have got to go by the way of 
Calvary. If you ever get rest you must get it at the foot 
of the cross. "Why," she said, "if I should go home and 
tell my infidel husband that I had found Christ I don't 



TRUST IN GOD BRINGS PERFECT PEACE. 163 

know what lie would do, I think he would turn me out." 
"Well," I said, "go out." She went away promising that 
she would tell him, but she didn't want another wretched 
week. She was bound to have peace. The next night I 
gave a lecture to men only, and in the hall there were eight 
thousand men and one solitary woman. When I got 
through and went into the inquiry meeting I found this 
lady with her husband. She introduced him to me, and 
said, "He wants to become a Christian." I took my Bible 
and told him ail about Christ, and he accepted Him. I 
said to her after it was all over, "It turned out quite differ- 
ently from what you expected, didn't it?" She said, "Yes, 
I was never so scared in my life. I expected he would do 
something dreadful, but it has turned out so well." She 
took God's way and got rest. You may have rest. Don't 
you believe it, ministers? You have seen it over and over 
again. 

I want to say to you young ladies, perhaps you have a 
godless father or mother, a skeptical brother, who is going 
down through drink, and perhaps there is no one who can 
teach them but you. How many times a godly, pure 
young lady has taken the light into some darkened home! 
1 remember the last time Mr. Sankey and myself were in 
Edinburgh there was a father, two sisters and a brother, 
who used every morning to take the morning paper and 
pick my sermon all to pieces. They were indignant to 
think that the Edinburgh people should be carried away 
with such preaching. But one day one of the sisters was 
going by the hall and she thought she would drop in and 



164 MOOD T y S NEW 8ERM0N K 

see what class of people went there. She happened to take 
a seat by a godly lady, who said to her, "I hope yon are 
interested in this work." She tossed her head and said, 
"Indeed I am not. I am disgusted with everything I have 
seen and heard." "Well," said the lady, "perhaps you 
came prejudiced." " Yes, and the meeting has not removed 
any of it, but has rather increased it." "I have received 
a great deal of good from them." "There is nothing here 
for me. I don't see how any intellectual person can be 
interested." To make a long story short, she got the lady 
to promise to come back. When the meeting broke up 
just a little of the prejudice had worn away. She promised 
to come back the next day. She went so far as to tell 
that skeptical father, brother and sister, but they just 
laughed. You have got to take the cross if you get rest. 
But one day the two sisters were together, and the other 
said, " Now what have you got at those meetings that you 
didn't have in the first place?" "I have a peace that I 
never knew of before, I am at peace with God, myself and 
all the world." Did you ever have a little war of your 
own with your neighbors, in your own family? And she 
said, "I have self-control. You know, sister, if you had 
said half the mean things before I was converted that you 
have said since I would have been angry and answered 
back, but if you remember correctly, I haven't answered 
once since I have been converted; you can get this same 
rest and peace." Like Martha and Mary, they had a 
brother Lazarus, but he was a member of the University 
of Edinburgh. He to be converted? He go to these 



TRUST IN GOD BRINGS PERFECT PEACE. 165 

meetings? It might do for women, but not for him. One 
night they came home and told him that a chum of his 
own, a member of the university, had got up and confessed 
Christ, and when he sat down his brother got up and con- 
fessed; and so with the third one. When the young man 
heard it, he said : " Do you mean to tell me that he has 
been converted?" "Yes." "Well," he said, "there must 
be something in it." He put on his hat and coat and went 
to see his friend Black. Black got him down to the meet- 
ings and he was converted. 

We went through to Glasgow, and. hadn't been there six 
weeks when news came that that young man had been 
stricken down and died. When he was dying he called his 
father to his bedside and said, "Wasn't it a good thing 
that my sisters went to those meetings?" "Yes, yes, my 
son, I am so glad you are a Christian ; that is the only 
comfort that I have now in the thought of losing you. I 
will become a Christian, and will meet you again." I tell 
this to encourage some sister to go home and carry the 
message of salvation. It may be that your brother may 
be taken away in a few months. My dear friends, are we 
not living in solemn days? Isn't it time for us to get our 
friends into the kingdom of God? Come, wife, won't you 
go home and tell your husbands? Come, sister, won't you go 
home and tell your brothers? Won't you take up your 
cross this afternoon? The blessing of God will rest on 
your soul if you will. 

I was in Wales once and a lady told me this little story : 
An English friend of hers, a mother, had a child that was 



166 MOOD rs NEW SERMONS. 

sick. At first they considered there was no danger, until 
one day the doctor came in and said that the symptoms 
were very unfavorable. He took the mother out of the 
room and told her that the child could not live. It came 
like a thunderbolt. After the doctor had gone the mother 
went into the room where the child lay and began to talk 
to the child and tried to divert its mind. "Darling, do 
you know you will soon hear the music of heaven? You 
will hear a sweeter song than you have ever heard on earth, 
you will hear them sing the song of Moses and the lamb. 
You are very fond of music. Won't it be sweet, darling?" 
And the little tired, sick child turned its head away, and 
said, "Oh, mamma, I am so tired and so sick that I think 
it would make me worse to hear all that music." "Well," 
the mother said, "you will soon see Jesus, you will see 
the seraphim and cherubim and the streets all paved with 
gold," and she went on picturing heaven as it is described 
in Revelations, and the little tired child again turned its 
head away and said, " Oh, mamma, I am so tired that I 
think it would make me worse to see all those beautiful 
things?" And the mother took the little child up in her 
arms and pressed her to her loving heart. And the little 
sick child whispered, "Oh, mamma, that is what I want. 
If Jesus will only take me in his arms and let me rest." 

Dear friend, are you not tired and weary of sin? Are 
you not weary of the turmoil of life? You can find rest 
on the bosom of the Son of God. You can find it right 
here if you will. May God help you to leave your sins and 
burdens and cares in this hall. 



TRUST IN GOD BRINGS PERFECT PEACE, 167 

Now, shan't we pray? Let us all lift onr hearts to God 
in prayer, perhaps it will never happen again that so many 
will pray for you as to-day. What an afternoon this 
might be ! Let us bow our heads in prayer. 



168 MOODY'S NEW SERMONS. 



WATCH, FIGHT, AND PEAY. 

As you are all aware, this is the first day of the week of 
prayer, and probably there will be more prayer offered in 
the next week than there has been in the last twelve 
months. We want to fall into line. If we are to have a 
real deep, thorough work in this community it is going to 
be in answer to prayer. 

Let us learn a lesson from Nehemiah. He humbled 
himself and confessed his sins, and then it was that God 
heard his prayer and gave him a great, yes, a great blessing, 
not only to his own soul, but to thousands of others, and 
I believe it will be the same right here. The walls are 
torn down in a great many places. We want them built 
up, don't we? Then let there be an honest cry. Let's 
make a sacrifice, let's be here Monday, Tuesday and 
Wednesday at the noonday hour. If you business men have 
to leave your business and you wives your household cares, 
make up your minds that you are going to be here. Let 
there be a real cry going up to God, and we shall not be 
disappointed. 

I want to say that we can learn a lesson from this distin- 
guished man, whose prayer we have read this morning. 
Nehemiah was not a Jewish prince, although it is supposed 
he had royal blood in his veins. He was born in captivity. 



WATCH, FIGHT, AND PRAT. 169 

It was about one hundred years after Jerusalem was taken 
that this man appeared upon the horizon. He was in the 
court of Artaxerxes. He was a cupbearer to the king, and 
held a high position. I can imagine that one day in the 
court he met a man that had come down from Jerusalem, 
perhaps on business for the king, and he got into conversa- 
tion with him. In fact it may be this very man wanted 
Nehemiah to use his influence with the king. Nehemiah 
began to inquire about Jerusalem and the condition of his 
own people, and he was told they were in great want and 
distress and degradation, and that the walls of the city 
were still down, that the gates had been burned and never 
restored, and his patriotic heart began to burn. He began 
to mourn for his own country, to pray, and fast, and I 
have no doubt but that when he commenced to pray he 
asked that the king might be sent to rebuild the walls. 
He, perhaps, didn't have any thought of doing anything 
more than to pray. But if you can get a man to pray, he 
will soon be prepared to do something more. Nehemiah 
didn't pray for one week, nor two, nor even a month, but 
he kept at it. Perhaps he fasted two or three days in a 
week and he kept that up all through the fall. He perse- 
vered. He prayed on and fasted, and all this while God 
was answering his prayer. Although he didn't see any 
answer, God was just preparing that king to have every- 
thing in readiness when the time should come. And one 
day he stands before the king as usual and gives him a cup 
of wine. The king looked up and said, "Nehemiah, why 
art thou sad? Are you sick?" Nehemiah answered "No." 



170 MOODY'S NEW SERMONS. 

"Well, what is the trouble? It must be sorrow of heart." 
Then Nehemiah told the king how he was burdened for 
his own country, and the king said, "Well, what is your 
request?" But Nehemiah had time to pray right then and 
there. The king didn't hear the prayer but .the King of 
Kings heard it. "Lord help me now," he prayed to the 
God of heaven. Men say they have not time to pray, but 
Nehemiah prayed while the king was waiting for an answer. 
The Lord taught him just what to ask for, and then he 
made his request. It wasn't that the king of Persia might 
go and rebuild those walls, but that he himself might be 
sent to do the work. There is faith for you! He was 
dead in earnest. For three or four months he had concen- 
trated his mind upon the misery and wretchedness of his 
country. 

To give up that Persian court and identify himself with 
those despised Jews. He was there among the highest of 
all the whole realm, he was cupbearer to the king and held 
a high position. And not only that, he was a man of great 
wealthy lived in great luxury, and a man of great influence 
in that court; and for him to go up to Jerusalem and lose 
caste, it was like Moses turning his back upon the court and 
identifying himself with those poor captives. He stooped 
to conquer, and when you get ready to stoop God will use 
you. If we are going to succeed in God's work we must 
stoop. 

Nehemiah found favor with the king. The king was all 
ready to give him his request, and he gave orders that 
Nehemiah should have a retinue of soldiers to escort him 



WATCH, FIGHT, AND PRAT, 171 

through the different provinces. Jerusalem was one thou- 
sand miles away. He knew how he would be persecuted 
and looked down upon, but he had made up his mind to 
rebuild those walls. I tell you it is a great thing for a man 
to set something before him and go and do it. "This one 
thing I do," says Nehemiah, "I will rebuild those walls," 
and he went. When he reached Jerusalem he didn't have 
some one go before him and blow a horn and say, " This is 
the great Nehemiah, the cupbearer to the great king of 
Persia." He didn't tell any one what his business was. 
Man, let the work speak for itself. You needn't blow any 
horns; go and do the work and it will advertise itself. I 
am tired of these men who are always going to do some 
great thing. 

This man goes into Jerusalem and doesn't tell what he 
has come for. There is quite a stir. What has he come 
for? Is it war or is it peace? What has brought him 
here? What does it all mean? But Nehemiah stayed 
there three days and three nights and didn't let even his 
own men know what he had come for. One night after 
they had all gone to bed and all was quiet, he stole out on 
his beast and tried to ride around on the walls, but he 
couldn't get round on his beast, so he footed it. He 
walked all around those walls examining them, and found 
them all in ruins. His heart must have sunk within him 
if he hadn't a brave one. The nations all around were 
looking down upon these weak, feeble Jews. So it is to- 
day, the walls are down, and people say it is no use, and 
their hands drop down by their side. After he had been 



172 MOOD T y S NEW SERMONS. 

there three days and nights he called the chief priests and 
elders and the Pharisees together and told them what his 
errand was. All this while God had been working in the 
hearts of his men so that they were now ready. When he 
had got through with his speech they arose and said, "Let 
us rebuild the city." If we could have such men here 
wouldn't we see the walls of Jerusalem going up? 

But it wasn't long before there was a muttering outside; 
you could hear the rumbling. I want to tell you, my 
friends, that there was never any work done for God with- 
out opposition. A great many people are afraid of opposi- 
tion. That is just what we want. If it is real work there 
is going to be opposition. Sanballat and Tobiah, the 
Ammonite, the Geshemites and all the people round heard 
of it, and they began in the first to ridicule. It will be so 
right here. People will begin to ridicule and heap all 
manner of criticism upon the work. So these men went 
on ridiculing and jeering at Nehemiah, but he was too 
busy to stop and listen to them. I pity these men 
that will stop to answer all this caviling. Let them 
go on grumbling and caviling. Nehemiah kept steady at 
work. Well, they found that ridicule didn't work, so they 
sent him a letter. " Let's go down to the plains of Ono 
and have a council." They wanted to get him down to 
the plains to consult with him and have a friendly conver- 
sation. What is the church of God doing now but having 
discussions upon the plains of Ono? Look at the whole 
Presbyterian church, turned aside discussing higher criti- 
cism ! N ehemiah just sent back word, " I am doing a great 



WA TCH, FIGHT, AND PR A F. 1*3 

work, and I cannot come down." He thought it was 
"coming down." I think so too. Let the discussions go. 
Man, we have all eternity to discuss these questions. 
There is too much work to be done now to stop to discuss 
them. Well, they wrote him another letter. " Come down 
to the plains of Ono, we want to have a friendly discussion, 
we are your friends." By this time the Arabs came along, 
those roaming Ishmaelites were going to fight him. But 
Nehemiah and his men just put on their swords. They 
were dead in earnest. "Watch, fight, pray." They 
watched. Oh, it is a wily devil that we have to contend 
with. Do you know it? If he can only get the church to 
stop to discuss these questions, he has accomplished his 
desire. 

Now, perhaps you women who belong to the Women's 
Christian Temperance Union may feel hurt, but I do think 
it is a masterstroke of the devil when he gets you to stop 
to discuss women's rights. " Haste to the rescue! We are 
doing a great work and haven't time to come down." I 
tell you the prohibition I believe in is to get the people so 
they won't want to go into the rum shops. That is the 
quickest way to do it, cut the business off, and away it 
goes! Why, there is one town in Scotland where Mr. 
Sankey and myself went; there was a great work of God 
going on, and the people were all converted. There were 
two rum shops there, and they couldn't sell any whisky 
and had to move away. Now, why can't that be done 
here? If those men on the plains of Ono had gone on dis- 
cussing there would have been nothing done. But Neh§- 



174 MOOD T 9 S NEW SERMONS. 

roiah kept steady at work. No eight hours a day, either. 
They commenced at starlight in the morning and worked 
until starlight. 

I tell you the man that is counting the hours he works 
for the Lord doesn't amount to much. Build up. Build 
up again. They couldn't get Nehemiah down to the plains 
so they sent him a fifth letter — what we to-day call an open 
letter. " We understand it is reported that you are going 
to get up a kingdom against the king of Persia. This is 
treason, rebellion, and if it should reach the ears of the 
king you would be put to death. So come down and let's 
have a friendly counsel." But Nehemiah said, "I am 
doing a great work and I cannot come down." That was 
all he had to say. And when they found they couldn't 
get him to come down and the walls were about finished, 
they went to work and bought one of the prophets. I tell 
you I had rather have ten thousand enemies outside than 
one inside. When the devil gets possession of a child of God 
he will do the work better than the devil himself. "Now, 
Nehemiah, there is a plan to kill you, come into the tem- 
ple. Let's go in and stay for the night." And he came 
very near tumbling into that pit. He said, "Should such 
a man as I go there to save my life? I cannot do it." He 
couldn't come down, you see, and when he refused it was 
revealed to him that the devil was in the man. My 
friends, look out. If even a minister asks you to do some- 
thing against that word, don't you do it. Never mind 
these outside or inside enemies, but keep your face set on 
the walls of Jerusalem, 



WATCH, FIGIIT, AND PRAY. 175 

At last the walls were all finished — all bnilt. Those men 
were terribly in earnest. They didn't take their clothes 
off. They just ate, drank and slept. They went in to 
bnild the walls of Jerusalem, and I tell you what, they will 
be rebuilt here if we can only get a few hundred people in 
earnest. Never mind what those enemies may say. He 
has a work for us to do, and if we don't do it it will not be 
done. It is a false idea some people have that if we don't 
do it somebody else will. I tell you what, it won't take 
long to rebuild the walls here when the city moves as 
Nehemiah and his men moved. Fifty-two days and the 
building was finished. And there was great indignation. 
And then he went to work and put the city in order. I 
tell you what, I wish we had Nehemiah for mayor in this 
city. He just made those men sign a covenant, and there 
were five things in that covenant that he made them sign. 

First, they were not to give their daughters to the 
heathen. I haven't time to work this up, but do you know 
how much misery there is and has been in our land because 
pure, Christian young women have been married to non- 
Christian men? God says, "be not unequally yoked with 
unbelievers." 

The next thing they were to do (and bear in mind 
this was a thing they had to sign), they were not to buy 
or sell on the Sabbath. They were to keep the law of God ; 
they were to keep the Sabbath. Not sell the Sunday 
paper? Not buy a Sunday paper? No, certainly not 
There was to be no traffic on the Sabbath. I tell you, if 
Nehemiah was here he would find a good many of us lik§ 



176 MOODY'S NEW SERMONS. 

Tobiah. Here we have boys who are kept away from the 
Sunday school to sell papers on the streets — trains running 
clear from Washington in order that the papers can be 
sold. A yonng man that reads one of those papers you 
cannot get into church. He is all taken up with the things 
of the world. We need a Nehemiah to strengthen us out. 
He would not buy on the Sabbath, and he had the gates 
closed. 

Then the third thing he made them sign was that they 
would let the land rest. For four hundred and ninety 
years they did not keep that agreement, and God took them 
down into Babylon and kept them there for seventy years. 
They would not let the land rest, and so God took it from 
them. A man says that he will not give God one day out 
of seven. What is the result? Why, God takes it. A 
man is not going to make anything by working seven days 
in a week. You cannot rob God. So they signed the 
covenant that they would let the land rest. You know 
that with the Jews everything revolved around seven. 
There was a seventh day for rest, and seven times seven 
brought the year of Jubilee. 

The next thing in that covenant was that they should 
not take usury from their brother. I tell you, Nehemiah 
would have a time of it in this city, wouldn't he? Yes, he 
would! But Nehemiah made those men sign it. 

The fifth thing was that they would just bring one-tenth 
of all that they had into the Lord's storehouse. The first 
of their fruits were \o be brought to the Lord and for 
thirty-six years they had prosperity. 



WATCH, FIGHT, AND PRAT, 17? 

I tell you if you take these five things and carry them 
out you will have prosperity. Let us all do it personally. 
If it was good for those men it is good for us. The mo- 
ment we begin to rob God then darkness and misery and 
wretchedness will come. 



178 MOODY'S NEW 8BBM0N8. 



THE INFLUENCE OF THE INDIVIDUAL. 

My subject to-day will take in three classes of people, 
and I think that will cover my audience. First, to those 
who are Christians, then to those who have backslidden, 
and to those who are not Christians. We all come under 
one of these three heads. 

I think that at just this stage of the meetings a great 
deal depends upon the attitude that Christian people take 
toward these services. You can throw your influence for 
or against. Yon will have opportunities to show on which 
side you are. The meetings have got to just that stage 
where there is a great deal said for and against. One 
great advantage of these meetings is that it sets people 
talking, and it gives you all a chance to be preachers. 
That is one object of a great union movement like this. 
It arouses public opinion. As I said before, a great deal 
depends upon the attitude you take. There is a passage 
over here in Phillipians that I would like to read, chap, 
iii., v. 18. Now Paul had reference there to those who 
professed to be friends to Jesus Christ. They walk so that 
they were enemies. Their influence was on the wrong 
side, and you all will have an opportunity in the next 
few days to show your colors. You can take your choice. 
You can throw your influence against the work and 



THE ISFL UENCE OF THE INDIVID UAL. 179 

let your whole family be without a drop of dew, or 
you can take the right way and let the blessing come 
into your whole house. I was preaching in the north 
of England some years ago and there was a Quaker 
lady who had never been in any service outside of 
the Quaker meeting-house. She had lost a child and was 
very lonely, and one day she thought she would drop into 
one of the public lectures. That day it happened to be 
"Upon Heaven" and it was balm to her soul. She went 
home and told her husband and insisted upon his bringing 
her out in the evening. She had a nephew and a brother 
staying with her and they all four came to the meeting 
that night. It happened to be in a Free Methodist church, 
and if you know anything about the Free Methodists you 
know they are about the noisiest crowd there is. It was 
a strange place for Quakers to be. That night I was talk- 
ing about conversion and while she was taken up with the 
sermon, the men were carried away by the noise and con- 
fusion. On the way home the brother and nephew were 
right behind her, and she heard them making all manner 
of sport of the meeting. When they reached home she 
went upstairs to take off her things, before going down to 
supper. The thought occurred to her that the salvation of 
those two men might depend upon her attitude when 
she went to the supper table. She came down, and the 
moment they sat down they began to make all manner of 
sport of the meeting. "Well," she said, "of course we 
are Quakers or Friends. We are not used to that sort of 
thing. It is new to us, but it may be these people get a 



180 MOODY'S NEW SERMONS. 

great deal of good from them. One thing is certain, I got 
a great deal of good myself, and if there is anything like 
conversion, I have been converted." She began to talk of 
Christ. The brother and nephew had tickets for the 
theater the next night, but she persuaded them to go to the 
meeting. That brother was going down though the influ- 
ence of strong drink, and was converted. The nephew 
belonged to one of the old families, and he had come there 
to learn a trade. He expected to take charge of a large 
business. He had a great deal of influence with the work- 
ingmen of a large industry there, and he was converted. 
One day he came with a roll of names that would go clear 
across this hall, asking me to speak to the workingmen of 
the place. That great work in 1873 was the result of 
that meeting. They packed the church with workingmen 
and the fire of God broke out among them and swept on 
for two years. This was the result of that woman's taking 
the attitude she did. Now there are a good many 
whole families that are perhaps scoffers, and in your own 
immediate circle you will see men going about and saying, 
"Look out what you say and don't throw your influence on 
the wrong side." You know it is very easy to talk about 
revivals, but do you know that there is not a denomination 
that hasn't sprung out of revivals. The Episcopal church 
claims to be. They come from Pentecost, don't they? I 
would like to know where your Methodists come from if 
they don't come from the revival under Wesley. And «o 
you can go right on through all the denominations. I 
venture to say there is many a church where four-fifths of 



THE INFLUENCE OF THE INDIVIDUAL. 181 

the members were converted during revivals. I would like 
to know how many in this audience have been converted 
during revivals, when there has been some revival in your 
church? (Mr. Moody here asked the people present who 
had been converted during revival services to stand. There 
was a hearty response.) See! Look at the number that 
has risen right here. You can go into your own church 
and put the question just that way and you will find that 
the most active and leading class have been converted dur- 
ing revivals. There was one place where I went to hold 
meetings, and a young minister took a very active part in 
the work. One day one of his members came to him and 
said, "If you are going to hold your position in the church, 
you have got to be very cautious about the stand you take." 
He went to the church roll and took off the names of those 
who had been converted during revivals, and he found 
that four-fifths of them had been brought to Christ during 
such times. I want to say that the heartiest and strongest 
Christians come out of revivals, and great awakenings, and 
that is what we want here. You want a revival in busi- 
ness in your bonds and stocks. You would like to see them 
go up twenty-five or fifty per cent., but I tell you we need 
a breath of revival in Christianity. May God show it to 
us! I believe that is what we will get if we are dead in 
earnest. 

There was one place where we went to hold meetings and 
it was given out in the papers that we were going to stay 
thirty days. Now there was a lady who was a member of 
one of the churches, and she said, "I don't want my boy 



182 MOOD 7 '£ NEW SERMONS. 

brought under the influence of those meetings. I am 
afraid that he will be brought into the Y. M. C. A., and 
they will have him on the streets selling tracts, and it 
would be very mortifying to me to have my son doing such 
a thing as that." She was ambitious for her boy. She 
wanted to get him into the ion-ton society as we call it. 
So she planned to take her only boy out of the city to be 
gone for those thirty days. She told her pastor why she 
had taken him. I knew nothing about it. The meetings 
went on and just at my right hand sat that minister, from 
the beginning to the end, until the last meeting, when he 
was absent. Just as the benediction was pronounced and 
the people were crowding out, he came rushing in and said 
he was so sorry he had not been there. "I have just been 
called on one of the saddest errands of my life." He told 
me that that woman who had taken her son away from the 
influence of those meetings had brought him back that day 
in his coffin, and he had just come from the funeral. That 
mother to her dying day never forgave herself. 

My dear friends, be very careful how you walk just now. 
We have been praying God to revive His work, and if it is 
His work you cannot afford to join with the scoffing, jeer- 
ing people, and talk against the work of God. 

I remember some years ago seeing a little notice in the 
paper, and it made a great impression upon my mind at 
the time. It was about a father taking his little child out 
into the field one day. He lay down under the shade of 
a tree and fell asleep. Before he went to sleep the child 
was picking wild flowers and grass and saying, "pretty, 



THE INFLUENCE OF THE INDIVIDUAL. 183 

pretty." When he fell asleep the child wandered around 
and away from him, and when he woke up his first thought 
was, "Where is my child?" lie shouted at the top of his 
voice, and running to a hill at some distance he called, but 
there was no response. Finally he went to the edge of a 
precipice, and looking down, he saw the mangled form of 
his little child. He took it up and accused himself of 
being its murderer. While he slumbered the child had 
wandered away and been lost. I have often thought that 
was a picture of God's ow r n dear children going over a 
worse precipice than that into drunkards' and gamblers' 
dens, and they are lost before you know it. I firmly 
believe it is much easier to keep the cars on the track than 
to get them back after they have once been thrown off. 
Therefore, I would like to say to you that there is some- 
thing more important than just keeping up the bonds and 
stocks for your children. Supposing you don't leave them 
so many thousands of dollars. Isn't it better to leave them 
a good Christian character? Isn't it a good deal better for 
you to let business puffer for the next thirty days and just 
lay yourself out to get your whole family blessed, and into 
the kingdom of God? I believe we will see signs and won- 
ders here if we just stir ourselves. Now the question 
comes up, "Mr. Moody, why is it so many good people's 
children turn out so bad?" The more I travel and go 
among men, the more I begin to see why. There was a 
lady who brought her son clear from the Pacific coast to 
the East that I might talk to him, because I had influence 
with him — when he was a little boy. But it did no good. 



184 MOODY'S NEW SERMONS. 

He went down. Afterward I heard that the next son had 
gone the same way, and then the third, and I couldn't 
understand it. The next time I went out to the Pacific 
coast I was invited to this same home, and one night the 
father took me into a private room. He wrung his hands 
and said, "I haven't got a son that I'm not ashamed of." 
He was deacon of the church, he attended all the services 
regularly, and outwardly his life was all that it should be. 
He was known as one of the best of husbands, and fathers, 
but I tell you what, I stayed in that home for a week and 
watched things, and when that father put the question to 
me, "Why is it that my sons have turned out so bad?" I 
said, "Look here, where do you spend Monday night?" 
"I belong to the common council and I have to give Mon- 
day night to this." "I see, you give that evening to the 
public; where do you spend Tuesday night?" He belonged 
to the Young People's Society and he felt as if he ought to 
go to their meetings on Tuesday. " Where do you go Wednes- 
day?" He didn't want to tell. Finally he said he was 
one of these Masons. One of those high Masons, you know ! 
Master Mason, isn't it? Now, don't tell or it will show 
that you are one of them. Well, he was there every Wednes- 
day night. "Where are you Thursday night?" "On 
Thursday night I am at home." "Well, you are a public 
man and you are out or have company." "Where are you 
Friday night?" "Oh, Friday night I always go to the 
church prayer-meeting." "Saturday night?" "Saturday 
night I am always at home." "Yes, I noticed you were 
last Saturday. You came in and had supper, and your 



THE INFL UENCE OF THE INDIVID UAL. 185 

boys saw you for a few minutes and then you went off to 
your room to study your Sunday-school lesson. Very well, 
Sunday night where are you?" "Oh, I don't believe in 
giving up the second service, and I always go to church." 

"Now don't you see the devil has the advantage over 
you, and has ruined your three boys? It is drive all the 
day, and your boys slip off because they want to go and 
play with the other boys before they go to school. You 
never come home to lunch in the middle of the day. You 
come home late at night and eat your dinner, and you see 
your boys for only a few moments every night. Now 
doesn't the fault lie at your own door?" " Well," he said, 
"I never thought of that." "Well, don't you think you 
ought to think of it?" Isn't that one of the great evils in 
America? I needn't be so anxious about some one's else 
wickedness if I am cherishing my own. That comes 
before any public or private office. I heard of a traveler 
once, whose child came in and said, "Mamma that man 
that comes in Sundays has been scolding me." He called 
his own father "that man." 

And then we wonder how it is that our children turn out 
bad. You men go to church and pray like a saint, but 
I tell you if you don't live like a saint at home, your chil- 
dren will curse at home. You cannot shake it off on to 
your wife and expect her to do all the training. God holds 
man responsible. I believe whenever you see a Christian 
man's children turn out wrong, a good deal of the fault 
lies at his own door. Let us see if we cannot straighten 
things out. Give a little time to your boys. Unbend and 



186 MOOD T >8 NEW SERMONS. 

be a boy once in a while. Take them out riding, hunting, 
fishing. Give them a little time, you can afford it. This 
idea that we have got to give all our time to the service of 
the public is wrong, and is bringing a good many families 
down with sorrow. Now to those who have backslidden. 

I met two or three in the inquiry room last night who 
thought they had never been converted because they had 
backslidden. Now I am talking to those who have really 
been born of the Spirit, born from above, and wandered 
back into the old life. I want to say that the most tender, 
affectionate words in this Bible have been said to back- 
sliders. I believe the most wretched man or woman on 
the face of this earth is a man or woman that has tasted 
these gifts and then gone back to the beggarly elements of 
the world. If you have ever known Jesus, this old world 
will never satisfy you. The fact is, when God made your 
heart He made it a little too big for this world. If you have 
had a taste of the world to come, this old world will never 
satisfy you. The Lord wants you to come back. I want 
to say here to-day, that there is not a wanderer from God 
that He doesn't want to have come back. You will 
notice that in the second chapter of Jeremiah, fifth verse, 
the Lord makes it a personal question. 

Now, there is one thing about a backslider, he is always 
finding fault with church members. If a man goes wrong, 
he thinks the minister, the church, and all the members 
are wrong. Why? Because he looks through wrong eyes. 
Everything is just painted in that way to him. Now the 
Lord comes and says, " What iniquity have you found in 



THE INFL UENGE OF THE INDIVID UAL. 187 

me?" I want to say to every backslider, that God is the 
same that He ever was. He loves you just as much. He 
hates your backsliding, but still He loves you. You can 
find lots of iniquity in church members, but I tell you it is 
mighty poor business to live on the failings of other people. 
You will find you have as many yourself as you can take 
care of. Jeremiah 2, 13: "For my people have committed 
two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living 
waters, and hewn them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that 
can hold no water." Now notice that they left Him. That 
is the charge that God brings against them. You have left 
Him, not He has left you. 

Some think God has left them. Never! You have left 
Him. Do yon want to know how to get back? Jrast take 
up the work where you left off. "What did you do when 
you first came to the Lord? Eepented of your sins and 
turned to God. Just do as you did at first. Turn back 
to God, and if you do, He will have mercy upon you and 
forgive you. Just let your mind go back to those days. 
Didn't you have more peace and pleasure and joy than you 
have now? You are without hope in God and what dark- 
ness and blackness seems to cover you! Jeremiah 2, 19: 
u Thine own wickedness shall correct thee and thy back- 
slidings shall reprove thee. Know, therefore, and see that 
it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the 
Lord thy God and that My fear is not in thee, saith the 
Lord God of hosts." 

Now, I want to say here to-day that I believe every line, 
every letter of that verse. 



188 MOOD rs NEW SERMONS. 

Now, I want to call your attention to a fact. I will 
challenge you to find a father or mother that has back- 
slidden whose children haven't gone to ruin. I think the 
hardest people to reach are the sons and daughters of back- 
sliders. I have had them say to me, "You say there is so 
much joy in religion; if there is, why did my father and 
mother give it up?" They stumble there. I must confess 
it is one of the hardest things to get over. I cannot 
understand it. I remember working with an old white- 
haired backslider in St. Louis, and I sat up with him 
until eleven o'clock at night. At last he wiped away his 
tears and said: "I will come back," and that night I really 
believe God restored unto him the joy of salvation. But 
the next night, when I was preaching he sat right in front 
of me. I don't think I ever saw a man look so pitiful. 
When I went into the inquiry room he followed me in. I 
turned to him and said: "What is the trouble?" "Oh, 
Mr. Moody, this has been the darkest day of my life!" 
"That is singular. I thought God restored the joy of sal- 
vation to you last night." "So He did. I think God has 
spoken peace and forgiveness to my soul, but I have a large 
family of children here in this city. They are all married. 
I spent the day calling on my sons and daughters, and if 
you will believe it, Mr. Moody, there wasn't one of them 
but what called me an old fool. I have led them into 
iniquity and cannot call them back." 

I want to say to you mothers and fathers here to-day, 
that it is much easier to lead your children into Sodom 
than to get them back. May God show us the truth I 



THE INFL UENGE OF THE INDIVID UAL. 189 

And if there is a backslider here to-day, may God bring 
him back. You make money by going into Sodom and the 
world, "but thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and 
thy backslidings shall reprove thee." 

Oh, backslider, come back to-day. Don't wait until the 
whole family have been ruined. Oh, may God stir us up 
to-day ! I want to give you a little advice. If you have 
gone astray just come back. I have been here only a few 
days and if I was called away suddenly do you think I 
would go without saying anything to the committee? Did 
you ever hear of a sinner going to Jesus Christ and bidding 
him good-by? Did you ever hear of a sinner going into 
his closet and saying, "I have known you, Lord, for twenty 
years, but I have tired of your company. I am tired of the 
Bible, tired of prayer, tired of Sabbath-school work, tired 
of church and church work, and I have come to bid you 
farewell. Good-by, I am going back to the world." Did 
you ever hear of such a thing? You never did and never will, 
but I tell you, you have just run off without saying good- 
by to the Lord. You have no excuse, don't try to make 
one, but just come back to-day, tell Him you are sorry you 
have wonged Him. Oh, may the backslider come home! 



190 MOODY'S NEW SERMOJfB 



THAT "ELDER BROTHER." 

I have selected a very difficult subject, a difficult one to 
get people interested in. I am afraid you may get the 
chills before I am through, for I think it is one of the 
coldest subjects you can find in the whole Bible. It is 
about that elder brother of whom I have been reading. 

When I was in Europe once, Mr. Spurgeon gave me a 
copy of all his sermons, and out of the whole volume, 
between thirty and forty, I couldn't find one solitary 
sermon he had ever preached about that elder brother. I 
have tried a number of times to get interested but I must 
confess that it is hard to get my heart warmed up toward it. 

This elder brother thought he was all right. I heard of 
a man when I was across the sea who thought so much of 
himself that he used to shake hands with himself every 
morning. He was an elder brother. Now, if you ever 
had to live in a house with a man that never did wrong I 
pity you. If you wives have a husband that never does 
wrong I pity you. Do you know why? Because, if any- 
thing goes wrong it is you that has to suffer, he doesn't. 
All the blame falls upon you, He is an elder brother. 
There has been a hot discussion for ages about who those 
ninety-nine are that we read about in this fifteenth chapter 
of Luke. Some think they are the angels that have 



TEA T ' « ELDER BROTHER. * 191 

never fallen; some think they are a sort of angelic people 
and don't need to be converted, they are so pure and up- 
right naturally. I believe they are the people who think 
they are all right. You will notice that the chapter begins 
with a murmur and closes in the same way. They were 
finding fault with Christ because he was receiving sinners 
and saving the lost. 

Now, this elder brother was angry because the wanderer 
had come home. A lady came to me some years ago and 
wanted me to get her daughter into a seminary with which 
I was connected, but she said: "I want to be frank with 
you, I want you to know that I do not believe in your 
theology." "My theology! I didn't know I had any. I 
wish you would tell me what my theology is." "Well," 
she said, "I don't agree with your preaching." "What is 
it you don't agree with?" "Well," she said, "your views 
about that elder brother are the most abominable I ever 
heard of." I said, "You are the first person I ever heard 
try to uphold him. What are his good traits? What are 
his noble qualities?" "Why! he stayed at home with his 
father and took care of him, and his younger brother ran 
off and left him." "Took care of his father! Why! the 
last I read about him he was outside of the house in a mad 
fit and his father couldn't get him in." Oh, yes, he took 
care of his father! These elder brothers are the hardest 
people in the world to get in, because they think they are 
already there. It is said that in Berlin one day a German 
minister had this question up for discussion — who the 
ninety-nine were and who the elder brother was. He was 



192 MOODY'S NEW SERMONS. 

a great preacher and he got tip in a meeting and said he 
had seen the elder brother the day before. "Saw him! 
Where did you see him ? Saw the elder brother !" " Yes, 
when I looked into the looking-glass I saw him. I saw 
myself." He found himself envious of another minister, 
and he was an elder brother. I tell you what, there are a 
good many more elder brothers than prodigals, after all. 
There are a lot of us pretty near kin to that elder brother. 
Men go to church regularly, but I tell you a man that gets 
angry because the sexton puts a man into his pew who isn't 
dressed in the height of fashion, I believe belongs to this 
school. If you want to find out where they are, just tell 
them of a poor drunkard that has been reclaimed, and 
see their eyes open and hear them say, "I don't believe in 
that kind of thing." You have got a lot of them right 
here, I have no doubt of that. You take and follow this 
elder brother down through all the beatitudes, and you will 
find that he fails in every solitary one of them. Now just 
hear what Christ says: "Blessed are the poor in spirit." 
He poor in spirit? Not he! The Lord says "Blessed are 
the poor in spirit." A man may be rich and have a broken 
heart, but there is a blessing upon him if he has. " Blessed 
are they that mourn." Did this man mourn? For what? 
He had nothing to mourn over; he had never done a 
wrong thing in all his life. "Blessed are the meek." Was 
he meek? There was not a single trace of meekness about 
him. That Pharisee that went up to the temple to pray 
with the poor publican, did he know anything about meek- 
ness? "I thank thee, Lord, that I am not like other men. 



THAT "ELDER BROTHER." 193 

I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all I possess." I, I, I. 
Five great capital I's in a little short prayer of only a few 
words. There was not a prayer about it. He w T as just 
boasting and bragging. That is just what this elder 
brother w T as doing. "Blessed are they which do hunger 
and thirst." He hunger and thirst after righteousness? 
He had so much he didn't know what to do with it. 
"Blessed are the merciful." He merciful? He was very 
merciful to his old father, wasn't he? He was kind to his 
old father, wasn't he? Oh! I pity a father who has to be 
taken care of by such a son as that; sticking thorns into 
his old father's heart in the evening of life. "Blessed are 
the pure in heart," Was he pure in heart? "Blessed are 
the peace makers." Was he a peace maker? Breaking up 
the most peaceful scene this world ever saw ! That old 
father sitting at the table with a peace and joy that had 
never before come to him, and that elder brother just broke 
it up. I see that father's face just beaming with joy and 
delight when the servants whisper that Levi is outside mad 
and will not come in. And I see the old man get up, all 
the joy gone from his face, and go out and entreat his son 
to come in, but he is in a mad fit and the old man cannot 
get him into the house. I tell you I think he had a 
mighty mean son. Don't you? That is my opinion. 
"Blessed are they that are persecuted." And that is the 
kind of religion that this world believes in. The whole 
country talked about the nobility of this young man. I 
am afraid that if we had him now we would make him a 
deacon or elder in the church. He is all right. All right 



194 MOOD Y'S NEW SERMONS. 

in the sight of the world. He is never persecuted. But 
now, yon just take and read that man's life, and what do 
yon find? You find that he was sour. Oh, how many 
sour ones you meet now! They growl and grumble all the 
time. Sour! He was a touchy young man. Have you 
any touchy people among your acquaintances? That is 
just what this young man was — touchy. He was very 
angry. Why? Because his brother had come back. 

Did you ever know what caused the thrill of joy in 
heaven and the thumps in that old man's breast? I believe 
that is the only chapter in the whole Bible that tells 
what causes joy in heaven. That elder brother was self- 
righteous. He was selfish, and supremely so. There is 
not a thing in that man's character that is lovely after all. 
But how grandly that father shines out. "Son!" (he 
didn't call him any bad names) "Son! thou art ever with 
me. All that I have is thine." Oh, it makes me feel rich 
when I read that. That is liberty. You know in France, 
when anarchy was overthrown, they selected for their 
motto, "Fraternity, Equality, Liberty." That was what 
they wanted, and that is just what this father wanted with 
those two boys. He wanted them to be with him. That 
is what God wants every sinner to do. 

I remember once I was very busy getting up a sermon, 
and my little boy came into my room. I wanted to get 
rid of him just as quickly as possible. And I said to him, 
"My son, what do you want?" He threw his arms around 
my neck and kissed me and said, "I don't want anything, 
I just love you," I couldn't send him away, and I got 



THAT "ELDER BROTHER." 195 

down all his toys for him and let him stay in the room 
with me; and every once in a while I looked over my book 
and seen him just as happy as he could be. That is just 
what the Lord wants, he wants the elder brother to come 
in and just have liberty and fraternity. "Son, all I have 
is thine." And that is just what the younger brother did 
not want when he went away. But he came back and 
wanted it, and when he wanted it, the elder brother didn't 
want it. Now, one went down through the sin of his 
licentiousness, and the other went down through the sin of 
pride and self-conceit, and one is just as black and vile as 
the other. There is no difference. I tell you what! it is 
a good thing to take a mirror and get a good look at our- 
selves once in a while and see what we are, for it is a sort 
of family disease. 

But I am not going to dwell any longer upon that elder 
brother, for I must confess it is not a very interesting sub- 
ject. But I just want to say that I have had that man 
brought up to me very often in the most ridiculous 
ways. Some say that certain people don't need to be con- 
verted. " That kind of preaching that Mr. Moody is doing 
here is out of place. If he would go among the 
slums of our large cities and preach it to those lost souls, 
it would be all right. But we don't need it. We are 
cultured and refined and we do not need any such preach- 
ing." They think they are all right. "We are piling up 
a righteousness of our own." I want to say that that elder 
brother needed to be converted just as much as the younger. 
You put a man that has been living in wickedness and sin 



196 MOOD Y*S NEW SEBMONh 

on the crystal pavement, and it would be bell to him. 
Put a man under the very shadow of the tree of life with 
the spirit of the elder brother, and it would be hell to him. 
I can imagine the first man he sees he greets with the ques- 
tion, "Who were you when you were on earth?" "The 
thief on the cross." " I never associated with thieves or 
murderers when I was upon earth, and I shall not up here." 
And to the first woman he meets he says, "Who were you 
when on earth?" And with a beautiful smile on her face: 
"I was Mary Magdalene. That woman that had seven 
devils in her." "I never associated with such people on 
earth, and I won't up here." He couldn't associate with 
the blood-bought up in heaven. He couldn't sing the song 
of Moses and the Lamb with such people. He must have 
a little heaven of his own. He climbed up some other way. 
The Lord said, "They are thieves and robbers." I think 
once in a while it would be good to preach to the elder 
brothers, and I think there are a great many of them in 
the churches. They think because they live a moral life 
they are all right. They can be proud and as vile and 
black as hell itself, not fit for the kingdom of God. 

Now did you ever notice that four times Christ uses this 
word "except." "Except your righteousness exceed the 
righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no 
wise enter the kingdom of God." That was said to the 
elder brother school of men when Christ was on earth. 
Then again he said to the same class of people, " Except 
ye repent ye shall all likewise perish." Another time he 
said to that same class, " Except yo become converted, and 



THAT " ELDER BROTHER." 19? 

become as little children ye cannot see the kingdom of 
God." Don't you trust in your moral life — that is not 
going to save you. God will strip you of every rag of your 
own righteousness. You must have the righteousness of 
another. It was to Nicodemus, not to the poor woman at 
the well, that Christ said, "Except ye become converted 
and become as little children ye cannot see the kingdom of 
God." Now it is clearly taught that there must be a new 
spirit and new life, before we can see the kingdom of God. 
You can see a great many things, but there is one thing 
you cannnot see, you cannot see the kingdom of God, you 
cannot buy or educate yourself into the kingdom. There 
is only one way and that is to be born into it. You maj 
go across this continent to the Pacific coast and see there 
trees that have been growing for ages, but that truth that 
grows in the midst of the paradise of God your uncircum- 
cised eye shall never rest upon unless you are born again. 
You may see the prince of Wales and the crown prince 
of Eussia, but I tell you the Prince of Peace who is going 
to sit in glory, you shall never see as your Prince unless you 
are born again. You may see the rivers of earth, but 
there is one river that flows through the paradise of God 
that your uncircumcised eye shall not see until you are 
born again. You may look that sainted mother in the 
face to-day, but bear in mind that the time is coming when 
you are going to be separated. You may look at your 
little innocent child, but remember that a separation is 
going to come. If that child dies in early childhood, the 
Master will take it to himself, and you will not be permitted 



198 MOODY'S NEW SERMONS. 

to sit in the kingdom with that child until you are born 
again. "There is joy in the presence of God over one 
sinner that repenteth." There must be true repentance 
before we can be born again. Now I can imagine some of 
you say, " I have known that for years, but I wish I could 
be converted this afternoon." A lady told me once that 
for a long time she had made up her mind to be converted, 
and that she believed that if she was converted she could 
overcome the temptation that had crossed her path. 

You can be converted before I get through speaking. 
" Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth ; 
for I am God, and there is none else." Isaiah xlv, 22. 

I remember, at a terrible battle at M , for two days 

and nights I had been looking after a wounded and dying 
soldier. I was so sleepy that I went off to get a little rest. 
I had only just fallen asleep when a soldier came and woke 
me up. He said there was a man that wanted to see me; 
I was only half awake and I said, " You tell him I will be 
around in the morning." But he said, "If you see him at 
all, you will have to come right away." I got up and fol- 
lowed him and when I reached the man's side, I sat at the 
head of the bed and he said, " Well, chaplain, I have sent for 
you to see if you can help me die." I said, "My friend, I 
would gladly help you if I could but I cannot. I would take 
you into my arms and carry you into the kingdom of God 
if I could, but I cannot do that." Then he told me a little 
of his history. When he was enlisting for the army his 
mother threw her arms round his neck, and kissing him 
said, " I could let you go into the army, my boy, if you 



THAT " ELDER BROTHER:* 193 

were a Christian, but the thought that you may die with- 
out hope almost kills me." "I told her, when the war was 
over, I would come home and be a Christian. She said, 'It 
may be too late then.' I told her I would risk it." And 
now he said: "Here I am dying, away from home and 
mother. It is hard to die alone. I wish you could help 
me." I began to tell him of Christ, but I couldn't get 
him to lay hold of one of the promises. The cold, icy 
hand of death was feeling for his cords. A life was fast 
ebbing away, and I felt so sad to have him die at that mid- 
night hour, away from home and friends. But I couldn't 
see and believe for him. I read to him the conversation 
that Christ had with Nicodemus about being born again, 
and I read the third chapter of John slowly and carefully. 
His ears were open to catch every word. I went on read- 
ing and when I got down to the fourteenth verse the dying 
man cried: "Stop; is that there?" "Yes," I said, "it is 
here." "Oh, I didn't know that was in the Bible. Eead 
those few verses again." And I began again; his elbows 
resting on the edge of the cot, he brought his dying hands 
together, his eyes began to light up and he said, "That 
sounds good, chaplain, read it to me once again," and I read 
it again. " As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, 
even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever 
believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." I 
went on reading and the dying man closed his eyes, folded his 
arms across his breast and there was a beautiful smile upon 
his face. Then there was an hour of terrible agony. I 
read through the chapter and when I got through I noticed 



200 MOOD T >S NEW SERMONS. 

his lips were moving. I bent down to listen, and I heard 
him whispering this verse: "As Moses lifted up the ser- 
pent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be 
lifted up." He opened his eyes, fixed his calm, sweet, 
deathly look upon me and said: "Chaplain, you needn't 
read any more to me now, I understand it now." 

I want to say to this audience to-day, that if I was dying, 
that would be my only hope of eternal life. 

It is not that I have preached the gospel or tried to lift 
up men, but that He has made it possible for me to be 
saved, and I do thank God for the gospel that saves all that 
come to Him. The dying man said, "I am not alone now. 
I love Him." Then I left him and went to get a few 
hours' sleep. When I went back to his cot, i found it 
empty. I said to the officer, " Did you stay with him until 
he died?" "Yes, he only lived an hour or two after you 
left." "What did he say when he was dying?" "Oh, he 
kept repeating this verse, 'As Moses lifted up the serpent 
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted 
up.'" When the dying hour came, he just pillowed his 
dying head upon those words and took his seat in the 
chariot of God. 

I thank God that Christ has been offered as a sacrifice for 
the sins of the world, and every soul can be saved now if 
he will. 



OBEDIENCE TO GOD'S COMMANDS. 201 



OBEDIENCE TO GOD'S COMMANDS. 

I want to call your attention to a text that yoa will find 
in the seventh chapter of Genesis, first verse. When God 
speaks yon and I can afford to listen. It v& not man 
speaking now, but it is God. "The Lord said unto Noah, 
come thou and all thy house into the ark." 

Perhaps some skeptic has drifted in here to-day, and 
perhaps some church member will join with Wm and say, 
" I hope he is not going to preach about the arV. I thought 
that was given up by all intelligent people." But I want 
to say that I haven't given it up. When I fto, I am going 
to give up the whole Bible. There is no portion of the 
Scripture but that the Son of God set his seal to when he 
was down here in the world. Men say, "I don't believe 
in the story of the flood." Christ connected His own 
return to this world with that flood. Men say they don't 
believe the story of Lot and his wife and those cities being 
destroyed with judgment from on high. I believe it just 
as much as I do the third chapter of John. I pity any 
man that is going into the pulpit and picking that old 
book to pieces. The moment that we give up any one of 
these things we touch the deity of the Son of God. I have 
noticed that when a man does begin to pick the Bible to 
pieces it doesn't take him more than five years to tear it all 



202 MOOD 7' 8 NEW SERMONS. 

to pieces. What is the use of being five years about what 
yon can do in five minutes? 

But I am not here to defend the Bible. It will take care 
of itself. I want to talk about the text. One hundred 
and twenty years before, Noah had received the most awful 
communication that ever came from heaven to earth. No 
man up to that time, and I think no man since, has ever 
received such a communication. God said that on account 
of the wickedness of the world He was going to destroy the 
world by water. For one hundred and twenty years God 
strove with those antediluvians. He never smites without 
warning, and they had their warning. If they had 
repented and cried as they did at Nineveh, God would have 
heard their cry and spared them, I believe. But there was 
no cry for mercy. I have no doubt but that they ridiculed 
the idea that Christ was going to destroy the world. I 
have no doubt but that there were atheists who said there 
wasn't any God anyhow. I got hold of one of them some 
time ago and he said there was no God. I said, "How do 
you account for the formation of the world?" "Oh! force 
and matter work together, and by chance the world was 
created." I said, "It is a singular thing that your tongue 
isn't on the top of your head if force and matter just threw 
it together in that manner." If I should take out my 
watch and say that force and matter worked together, and 
out came the watch, you would say I was a lunatic of the 
first order. Wouldn't you? And yet they say that this 
old world was made by chance ! " It threw itself together !" 
I met a man in Scotland, and he took the ground that 



OBEDIENCE TO GOD'S COMMANDS. 203 

there was no God, and I said to him : " How do you account 
for creation, for all these rocks?" " Why!" he said, "any 
schoolboy could account for that." " Well, how was the 
first rock made?" "Out of sand." "W T ell, how was the 
first sand made?" "Out of rock." I have no doubt but 
that Noah had these men to contend with. 

Then there was a class called agnostics, and there are a 
good many of their grandchildren, too. Then there was 
another class who said they believed there was a god. They 
couldn't make themselves believe that the world happened 
by chance; but God was too merciful to punish sin. He 
was so full of compassion and love that he couldn't punish 
sin; the drunkard, the harlot, the gambler, the murderer, 
the thief and the libertine would all share alike at the end. 
Supposing the governor of your State was so tender hearted 
that he couldn't bear to have a man suffer, couldn't bear 
to see a man put in jail, and he should go and set all the 
prisoners free. How long would he be governor? You 
would have him out of office before the sun set. These 
very men that talk about God's mercy would be the first 
to raise a cry against a governor who wouldn't have a man 
put in prison when he had done wrong. 

Then another class took the ground that God couldn't 
destroy the world anyway. They might have a great flood 
which would rise up to the meadowland and lowland, but 
all it would be necessary to do would be to go up on the 
hills and mountains. That w T ould be a hundred times 
better than Noah's ark. Or if it should come to that, they 
could build rafts. They could make rafts which would be 



204 MOODY'S NEW SERMONS. 

a good deal better than that ark — they had never seen such 
an ugly looking thing. But Noah had received his orders 
to build that ark. Some one has suggested that Noah 
must have been daft, as the Scotch say. But when God 
spoke, Noah heard, and when God commanded, he just 
obeyed. 

Noah is off on a preaching tour to warn his countrymen 
of the coming deluge. I have no doubt but that they told 
him to go back and mind his own business. I tell you 
there were more bitter things said against Noah than is 
said against any minister in our day. I don't believe we 
know anything about it. If there were saloons in those 
days (and I haven't any doubt but that there were), Noah 
was the song of the drunkard, and they had a good many 
jokes about Noah's madness and folly. In the sight of 
those men Noah was the maddest man in the world. I 
have no doubt about that. And if they had theaters they 
probably had Noah's ark represented on the stage. And 
so all manner of sport was made of Noah and his ark. 
And the business men went on buying and selling, while 
Noah went on preaching and toiling. They perhaps had 
some astronomers, and they were gazing up at the stars 
and saying, "Don't you be concerned, there is no sign of a 
coming storm in the heavens. We are very wise men, and 
if there was a storm coming we should read it in the 
heavens." And they had geologists digging away, and 
they said, "There is no sign in the earth." 

Time rolls on; one hundred years have passed away, and 
some of the old men have passed away and gone, and they 



OBEDIENCE TO GOD'S COMMANDS. 205 

died saying, "Noah is wrong. And then, I suppose there 
was a large class that took the ground that Noah must be 
wrong because he was so in the minority. That is a great 
argument now, you know. Noah was greatly in the mi- 
nority. But he goes on working. One hundred and twenty 
years have passed, time flies, and he hasn't got a single 
convert outside of his family. Poor Noah! he must have 
had a hard time of it. I don't think I have the grace to 
go one hundred and twenty years and not have a convert. 
No, sir! That is hard work. Not a convert outside his 
own family ! That is grace for you ! Noah must have had 
a lot of it to have held on. But he just toiled on. The 
ark is finished, and I tell you, the day it was completed it 
was looked upon as the most contemptible thing in the 
world. They wouldn't have had their names connected 
with that old ark for anything. 

But I can imagine one beautiful morning, not a cloud to 
be seen, perhaps in the spring, Noah has got his communi- 
cation. He has heard the voice that he heard one hundred 
and twenty years before — the same old voice. Perhaps 
there had been silence for one hundred and twenty years. 
But the voice rang through his soul one night, "Noah, 
come thou and all thy house into the ark." And you can 
see Noah and all his family moving into the ark. They 
are bringing the household furniture. The neighbors are 
talking. They say, " Every year before he has planted, 
but this year he thinks the world is going to be destroyed 
and he hasn't planted anything." They think he will 
gome to want. This morning when they see him moving 



206 MOOD Y >S NEW SERMONS. 

some of his neighbors say, "Noah, what is your hnrry? 
You will have plenty of time to get into that old ark. 
What is your hurry? There are no windows, and you 
cannot look out to see when the storm is coming." But he 
heard the voice and obeyed. u Come thou and all thy house 
into the ark." Then they see the fowls of the air flying in 
pairs toward the ark, all manner of beasts coming up from 
their dens and caves as if sent by some unseen hand, and 
Noah standing at the door to receive them. And I can 
imagine some of them crying out, "Merciful God! what 
does this mean?" and the wise men say, "We don't know 
just what it means, but there is no danger. Don't you be 
alarmed. Be quiet, if the flood comes, we can build rafts 
better than that ark." And do you know, when they had 
all gone in, God gave the world seven days' grace. Did 
you ever know that? If there had been a cry during those 
seven days I believe it would have been heard. But there 
was none. At length the last day had come, the last hour, 
the last minute, ay, the last second. God Almighty came 
down and shut the door of that ark. No angel, no man 
but God himself shut that door, and when once the master 
of the house has risen and shut the door, the doom of 
the world is sealed ; and the doom of that old world was 
forever sealed. The sun had gone down upon the glory of 
that old world for the last time. You can hear away off 
in the distance the mutterings of the storm, of the coming 
judgment, you can hear the thunder rolling, the lightning 
begins to flash and the old world reels. The storm bursts 
upon them, and that old ark of Noah's would have been 
worth more than the whole world to them. 



OBEDIENCE TO GOD'S COMMANDS. 207 

I want to say to any scoffer that has come in here to-day, 
yon can laugh at that old Bible, you can scoff at your 
mother's God, you can laugh at ministers and Christians, 
but the hour is coming when one promise in that old book 
will be worth more to you than ten thousand worlds like 
this. 

I have no doubt that those antediluvians rushed to the 
door of that ark and shouted, "Xoah, Noah, let us in." 
Hark! Noah speaks, "I cannot open the door, God has shut 
it." Isn't it sad? There is no trifling now, no levity now, 
no mocking now, no derision now. Mark ye! don't forget 
it; the last hour is going to come to each, one of us. Some 
of us are spending our last week of prayer on earth. To 
me this week has been very solemn. I have thought it may 
be my last week of prayer. I thank God for the week, for 
the minutes I have been permitted to spend in this hall, 
but there is a tinge of sadness when I think it is passing. 
I look down upon these old men and women, and think 
they will be gone in a year. The last week, the last hour, 
the last minute is bound to come, and I tell you, it is a 
very solemn thing. If it should come now would it find 
us inside or outside of the ark? You may scoff at it, but 
it is a very important question. Are all your children in? 
Are all your grandchildren in? Listen. I selected this 
text because I wanted to speak as a father, not as a preacher. 
Don't rest day nor night until you get your children in. 
I believe my children have fifty temptations where I had 
one. I am one of those who believe that in these great 
cities there is a snare set upon the corner of every street for 



208 MOODY'S NEW SERMONS. 

our sons and daughters; and I don't believe it is our busi- 
ness to spend our time in accumulating bonds and stocks. 
Have I done all I can to get my children in? That is it. 
Now, let me ask you this question: What would have 
been Noah's feelings if when God called him into the ark 
his children wouldn't have gone with him? If he had 
lived such a false life that his children wouldn't have gone 
in with him what would have been his feelings? Come! 
haven't we got something to do? Are we doing all we can 
to get them in? Some one sent me a paper a number of 
years ago when I was in the old country marked "copy," 
and the article that was marked was this: "Are all the 
children in?" I read it. An old wife lay dying, she was 
nearly one hundred years of age, and the husband who had 
taken the journey with her sat by her side. She was just 
breathing faintly, but suddenly she revived, opened her 
eyes and said : " Why it is dark." " Yes, Janet, it is dark." 
"Is it night?" "Oh, yes! it is midnight." "Are all the 
children in?" There was that old mother living life over 
again. Her youngest child had been in the grave twenty 
years, but she was traveling back into the old days, and 
the dear old mother fell asleep in Christ, asking, "Are all 
the children in?" Dear friend, are they all in? Put the 
question to yourself to-day. Is John in? Is James in? 
Is he in, or is he immersed in business and pleasure? Is 
he living a double and dishonest life? Say! where is your 
boy, mother? Where is your son, your daughter? Is it 
well with your children? Can you say it is? 

After being superintendent of a Sunday school in Chicago 



OBEDIENCE TO GOD'S COMMANDS. 209 

for a number of years, a school of over a thousand mem- 
bers, children that came from godless homes, working 
hard, and to have mothers and fathers working against me, 
take the children off on excursions on Sunday and do all 
they could to break up the work I was trying to do, I used 
to think that if I could ever stand before an audience I 
would speak to no one but parents — that would be my chief 
business. It is an old saying, "Get the lamb and you will 
get the sheep." I gave that up years ago. Give me the 
sheep and then I will have some one to nurse the lambs. 
But you get a lamb and convert him, and if he has a god- 
less father and mother you will have little chance with 
that child. What we want is godly homes. The home 
was established long before the church. I remember the 
first speech I ever made in this line. I had gone down to 
Michigan to a meeting, and when I got up I noticed that 
about two-thirds of the audience were adults. I went at 
parents, and my whole address was right at parents. 
When I got through a man got up, and I thought he was 
going to rebuke me. I sat there trembling, but he arose 
and said, "I want to endorse all that young man has said. 
Sixteen years ago I was in a heathen country, and my wife 
died, and left me with three little children. The first 
Sabbath after my wife died my little daughter came to 
me and said, 'Papa, shan't I take the children into moth- 
er's room and talk to them as mother used to?' I said she 
might, and she led them off into the same chamber as the 
mother used to. When they came out I noticed they had 
all been weeping, and I said, 'What have you been crying 



210 MOODY'S NEW SERMONS. 

about?' I supposed they had been crying for their mother. 
Little Nelly said, 'Well, papa, I couldn't help it. We 
had all prayed, and I was just going to bring them out 
here, when little Susie made a prayer of her own.' 'What 
did she say?' 'Oh, God! you have taken away my poor 
mamma, and I haven't any mamma to pray for me any 
more. Won't you please make me good, just as my 
mamma was?' " 

She has lived a consistent Christian life for these 
sixteen years. As a little child God used her, and I 
want to ask the fathers and mothers here if you be- 
lieve your children can come thus early into the ark. I 
believe that the enemy has taken advantage of us. I 
haven't any sympathy with the idea that our children have 
got to grow up before they are converted. Once I saw a 
lady with three daughters at her side, and I stepped up to 
the mother and asked her if she was a Christian, " Yes, 
sir." Then I asked the oldest daughter if she was a 
Christian. Her chin began to quiver and the tears came 
into her eyes, and she said, "I wish I was." And the 
mother looked very angrily at me and said, "I don't want 
you to speak to my children on that subject. They don't 
understand." And in great rage she took them all away 
from me. One daughter was fourteen years old, one 
twelve, and the other ten, but they weren't old enough to 
be talked to about religion. Let them drift into the world 
and plunge into worldly amusements, and then see how 
hard it is to reach them. Many a mother is mourning to- 
day because her boy has gone beyond her reach and will 



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OBEDIENCE TO GOD'S COMMANDS. 211 

not allow her to pray with him. She may pray for him, 
but he will not let her pray or talk with him. In those 
days, when his mind was tender and young, she might have 
led him to Christ. Bring them in. " Suffer the little chil- 
dren to come unto Me." Is there a prayerless father 
to-day? May God let the arrow go down into your soul! 
Make up your mind that, God helping you, you are going 
to get the children in. 

I heard of a man once who had a boy that had been sick 
some time and he came home one day and found his wife 
weeping. She said : " I cannot help but believe that this 
is going to prove fatal." And the man started and said: 
"If you think so, I wish you would tell him." But the 
mother could not tell her boy. The father went to the 
sick-room and he saw that death was feeling for the cords of 
life, and he said : " My son, do you know you are not going 
to live?" And the little fellow looked up and said, "No. 
Is this death that I feel stealing over me? Will 1 die to- 
day?" " Yes, my son, you cannot live the day out." And 
the little fellow smiled and said, "Well, father, I shall be 
with Jesus to-night, shan't I?" "Yes, you will spend 
the night with the Lord," and the father broke down and 
wept. The little fellow saw the tears and said: "Don't 
you weep for me. I will go to Jesus and tell Him that 
ever since I can remember you have prayed for me." 

I have three children, and if God should take them 
from me 1 would rather have them take such a message 
home to Him than to have the wealth of the whole world. 
Oh! I would to God I could say something to stir you 
fathers and mothers to get your children into the ark. 



212 MOOD Y 'S NEW 8ERM0N8. 



"NO ROOM FOE CHKIST." 

" And they laid him in the manger because there was 
no room for them in the inn." 

I want to show, if I can, that the human heart is very 
much like that inn at Bethlehem — no room for Christ. 

For four thousand years every true son of God, from the 
time that Adam fell, away hack there in Eden, down to the 
time that Christ made his appearance in Bethlehem, had 
been looking forward to his coming, and the mothers in 
Israel had been praying that they might be the mother of 
that child, and yet when he arrives the first thing we hear 
is that there is no room for him. 

It may be that some of you are saying, "If they had 
known who he was there had been plenty of room, there 
would have been the booming of cannon, the ringing of 
bells, the playing of bands and a shout go up from the 
true sons of God at Bethlehem and in Jerusalem," but I 
am not sure of that, because we read that when the wise 
men arrived to declare that He was He that was born King 
of the Jews, not only Herod but all Jerusalem was troubled 
at the fact that He had come. 

When the prince of Wales came to this country I was a 
young man in Chicago and I remember that the city went 
wild with excitement. It was thought that there was 



"NO ROOM FOR CIIRIST." 213 

nothing good enough in that Western city for him. The 
hospitality of the city was given to him, and he could have 
the very best there was in every city, not only in the East, 
but the South and West extended invitations for him to 
come and visit them. The papers were discussing what he 
came for. I remember oue said that he came to look into 
the Republican form of government, another that he came 
for his health, another that he came to kill a few buffaloes. 
I don't remember that he told us what his visit was for — 
I don't know that the country was any wiser or better for 
his coming; but one thing I do know, that when the 
Prince of Heaven came down He did not come on any 
secret mission, but told us what He came for — to seek that 
which was lost, to bind up the broken hearted and comfort 
those who mourn; He came from heaven to earth bringing 
a glorious gospel with tidings to a lost world, and when He 
came there was not room for Him in the inn — no one 
wanted Him. 

You may perhaps say that if He came to-night it would 
be different, but I am not sure of that. I remember after 
He went back to Nazareth, after His fame had spread 
throughout the country, and they were anxious to find out 
if He was going to perform any miracles, on the first Lord's 
day He went into the synagogue where they were reading 
the prophesy found in the sixty-first chapter of Isaiah, 
and they offered Him the book that He might read to the 
people, every eye was on Him; undoubtedly there was 
great excitement in the audience, and He read that grand 
prophesy, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the* 



214 MOOD Y'S NEW SERMONS. 

Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the 
meek; He hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to 
proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the 
prison to them that are bound." 

You know He had come to lift that town higher than 
any other town on earth, to be the most famous town in 
the history, but they never allowed him to preach the ser- 
mon; He would have probably given them as grand a 
sermon as the Sermon on the Mount, but they drove Him 
out of the synagogue and took Him to the brow of the hill 
and would have hurled Him into perdition. That is the 
human heart — because He didn't preach to suit them they 
wouldn't have Him. I have often tried to picture that 
scene as he stood outside of the Avails of that little town of 
Galilee, rejected by His own kindred; what must have 
been the loneliness that came over Him as He stood there? 

Then He went to Capernaum, where He healed many 
people of diseases, gave sight to the blind, caused lepers to 
leap for joy and went on performing miracles; but it was 
not long before they began to hoot at Him, before the 
crowds began to scatter, and then He went from Caper- 
naum to Jerusalem, and it was not long before they were 
hooting at him there. It was nothing but persecution day 
after day. In that city of Jerusalem, which he loved better 
than any on earth because there was his father's house. 
And there in the temple he taught the pure doctrine till 
we find there was a storm soon to rise in that city against 
Him that would sweep Him to Calvary. There wasn't 
room for Him— they didn't want Him, There is not a, 



" NO ROOM FOR CHRIST." 215 

country to-day that wants Jesus Christ. This country is 
called a Christian country, but do you think America has 
got room for Christ? Do you know of a State in the union 
that if it were put to popular vote and you women had a 
chance to vote it would have Him back to reign? I don't 
believe it. When it comes to a personal Christ, letting 
Him be Lord over you, your master, your king, then it is 
that people draw back, and although the gospel has been 
preached for nineteen hundred years, there is yet no room. 
Let a man get up in parliament in England and say, "Thus 
saith the Lord," and they would hoot him out; or let him 
get up in the chamber of deputies in France and say the 
same and what a scene there would be. Go into Germany 
and it would be the same. It is a solemn statement, but 
it is nevertheless true. You doubt the statement, many of 
you; I will come a little nearer home, right into your own 
churches, and I will tell you that there are a good many 
churches that don't want Him. I hate to make this state- 
ment, but it is true. They want a fashionable man, an ora- 
tor, and the result is that many of our churches are whited 
sepulchers, having no spiritual power — no room for Christ. 
We read in one place that He looked toward heaven and 
sighed. I can imagine Him looking into the world on 
high where He was honored, where all loved Him, and just 
longing for the smile of that loving father. Around Him 
was sickness, pestilence, disease and death. He came 
to heal the sick, give life to the dead, raise those who were 
fallen, and they didn't want His pity and His help. I 
have often thought that I would like to have met Him in 



216 MOOD T y S NEW SERMONS. 

Jerusalem when He was on earth, but I suppose that if I 
had lived in that city my home would have been closed 
against Him. Jesus, before whom the morning stars sang 
together, who had power given Him in heaven and earth, 
came down into this dark earth, and although He was rich 
the only cradle He had was a borrowed one, His grave was 
a borrowed one, and the only time He ever rode it was on a 
borrowed beast. And He became poor that He might get 
into sympathy with people like yon and me; and yet when 
He got through with His ministry there were not more 
than five hundred that were really loyal to Him, after all 
His years of preaching and ministry. No wonder that He 
looked toward heaven and sighed. Did yon ever have the 
feeling that no one cared for yon, and that the world didn't 
want you — and you felt like putting an end to your life? 
The Son of God had many such hours down here, hours 
that His disciples could not enter into, and it must have 
crushed the very life out of Him at times. 

It has always been a mystery to me that a woman can 
turn against the Son of God, for there is not a country 
to-day where Christ is not preached where woman is either 
a slave or a toy. In India, where Buddha taught, in China, 
where Confucius taught. I said when I was in Jerusalem 
that if I had my choice in a Mohammedan country of 
being born a woman or a donkey I would be a donkey, 
for it is treated better than a woman. See what Christ 
has done for woman in Christian lands, and yet women sit 
down and talk against Christ. I want to say in passing 
that it is not recorded that the daughters of Jerusalem 



• • m room for OERtaT." % 1 : 

lifted up their voices against the Son of God, and some of 
those women were loyal to Him, but I am sorry to say I 
fear they were very few, but in the storm that was gather- 
ing around Him, and which grew blacker and blacker, there 
is a star that comes out in the darkness, that shines like a 
diamond, and that star rose over the Mount of Olives that 
slept over that little town of Bethany. We learn that 
there was a woman by the name of Martha that received 
him into her home. When a universal hiss was going up 
against him, there was a little family there in Bethany 
which had the moral courage to make room for him in their 
home. There was a dark cloud hanging over them then, 
but Martha and Mary did not know it. I can imagine 
that Martha went to Jerusalem, and seeing the great crowd 
in the temple asked what it was, and they told her it was 
the prophet of Galilee. She couldn't get near, but she 
probably stood on the edge of the crowd and listened to 
Christ. Perhaps He preached from the text, " Come unto 
me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give 
you rest.'"' Oh, says Martha, that is what I want, I have 
been longing for rest for weeks and months, rest to my soul, 
I never heard any one speak of giving rest before, and 
although her heart was filled with bitterness and prejudice 
before, as she stood there and heard those beautiful words, 
she thought — I would like to hear Him again — I wonder 
if He wouldn't come to my home. Then the thought 
came, if He did, many of my fashionable acquaintances in 
Jerusalem would cut my acquaintance. Bear in mind, it 
must have cost Martha a good deal to receive Jesus into 



218 MOODY'S NEW SERMONS. 

her home. He was very unpopular. But Martha asks 
Him to go and be her guest; and I will say that if you 
want Jesus to go to your home and help you train those 
children for eternity, He will come there. 

It may be that Mary and Lazarus were both opposed to 
Christ when she asked Him into her home, but He hadn't 
been there a great while before they both were taken cap- 
tive, and we find Christ hereafter going often to Bethany, 
where there was always a welcome for Him, where Mary 
sat at His feet and Martha was glad to serve. Tell me 
that they were not pleasant hours, filled with joy and glad- 
ness for those two sisters! And I can imagine one day 
when Lazarus comes in with his hand on his head; he has 
a headache, feels feverish, it may be only a few months 
before that the father and mother had died with some 
fever — and now Lazarus is coming down with the same 
disease. They perhaps send over to Jerusalem to the lead- 
ing physician there, everything is done that can be done to 
break up the fever, but he grows worse, until at last the 
fatal hour comes. Some of you know what it is to have 
the doctor come out from the sick-room and tell you there 
is no hope, and the loved one must go, that all that you 
can do cannot keep that loved one. Now that storm was 
going to burst upon that home, and I want to say to every 
woman in this audience that the hour is coming when you 
will surely need Christ. Christ would never have left 
heaven to come down into this world if this world hadn't 
needed Him. 

Martha and Mary feel their need of Christ and send a 



"NO ROOM FOR CHRIST." 219 

servant for Him — Christ could heal their diseased, suffer- 
ing brother. But the brother grows worse rapidly, and it 
is not long before he is dead. They keep him as long as 
they could, but they couldn't keep him long in that hot 
country, and the hour came when they had to take their 
last look upon his face and follow him to the little ceme- 
tery, and it was all over, and they came back to their dark 
home again. Some of you, mothers, sisters, wives, know 
what I am talking about. 

Three days have gone and the messenger sent for Christ 
has not returned, but the fourth day, along toward four 
o'clock in the afternoon, a messenger comes running into 
the house and tells Martha, who may have been preparing 
the evening meal, that Jesus was just outside the walls. 
She doesn't wait for anything, but runs out to meet him 
and falls at his feet and say, " Lord, hadst Thou been 
here my brother had not died." Jesus says, "But thy 
brother shall rise again." "I know that he will rise at the 
resurrection of the just, but he was such a good brother." 
"I am the resurrection and the life, he that believeth on 
Me, though he were dead yet shall he live." Martha was 
the first one to hear those words. Then He says, " Where 
is Mary?" And then she ran back into the house and said, 
"Come, Mary, the Master is here and calleth for you." 
The moment Mary heard she rose and left those friends 
who didn't believe in Him and ran out to meet Christ. 
And it is evident that these sisters had talked it all over, 
for Mary said the same words that Martha had said. 
"Yes, but thy brother shall rise again." "I know he shall 



220 MOOD Y'S NEW SERMONS. 

rise at the resurrection of the just." "I am the resurrec- 
tion and the life," He said, "Where have you laid him," 
and Jesus wept. I want a Christ that can go to the grave 
with me and weep when I weep. I want one that can 
warm this heart of mine in the time of trouble, and I am 
so thankful that He wept. Then He told the disciples to 
take away the stone; the sisters couldn't bear that their 
brother who had been so beautiful should be looked upon 
again and they said, "But by this time he stinketh, Lord, 
for he hath been dead four days." But Jesus said to them, 
"Said I not to thee that if thou wouldst believe thou 
shouldst see the glory of God?" and He called him by 
name, "Lazarus, corns forth!" and he came forth. What 
a scene that was. I want to ask this question: Did 
Martha make a mistake in receiving Christ into her home? 
did Mary make a mistake in taking her place at His feet 
and learning of Him? I want to say to you women here 
that the time is coming when you and I will need Him. 
My friends, make room in your hearts for him. When He 
went up on high He told us that He went up there to 
make room for us. Let us make room for Him down here. 
We cannot take Him in as Martha and Mary did, but we 
can take Him into our hearts. In these days, when many 
are talking so bitterly against Christ, won't you take your 
stand for Him? I believe He stands knocking at the door 
of your hearts to-day. Just make up your minds to make 
room for Him, and say "I will." 



HOW TO BE SA VED. 221 



HOW TO BE SAVED. 

I WOHDEB how many of these people here this afternoon 
would like to be saved? I am not going to ask those who 
would rise. I do not know whether any one would have 
courage enough to rise, and by that act say, "I would like 
to be saved." Perhaps you say to yourselves, "If that 
man will just tell me the way how lean be saved this after- 
noon, I will be saved." I believe one reason why so few 
are saved, is because they do not come out to the meetings 
expecting to be saved. They do not come for that pur- 
pose. There was a lady came to our meeting in Phila- 
delphia — to the noon meeting at eleven o'clock; she came 
early so as to get a good seat. After the meeting was over 
we had another meeting for women, and she stayed at that. 
In the afternoon we had another meeting and she stayed 
at that. She had made up her mind not to leave the meet- 
ings until she had found Christ. She did not find Him at 
that meeting, but she might have found Him. He was 
offered freely to every one, at all of them. So she stayed 
at the afternoon meeting, and still no light came. She 
stayed at the evening meeting and went into the inquiry 
meeting afterward. Between eleven and twelve o'clock 
she took me by the hand and said, "I will trust Him." 
And she rejoiced in the Saviour's love. I met her after- 



n% MOODY'S NEW SEBMONB. 

ward. There was not a face shone more than hers did 
There was a woman who came determined to find Him. 
When we search for God with all our hearts we are sure to 
find Him. 

I am not going to preach so much of a sermon to-day, as 
I am going to try to tell you the Way of Life. I had a 
long talk with a man yesterday who, I really believe, was 
honestly seeking the Kingdom of God; but the trouble 
was, he was determined to try to seek Him in his own way, 
and trying to work the thing out himself, instead of just 
trusting to Jesus for it. I hope he is here to-night, and 
that the Lord may bless this little talk to his soul, and that 
he may to-night sleep safely in the arms of Jesus Christ. 
It is supremely important to every soul here this day to 
trust in Christ and be saved. I am going to take up a few 
Scriptural illustrations. The first is the ark. When I 
was in Manchester, in one of the inquiry meetings, I went 
up into the gallery to talk with a few men who were stand- 
ing together, and who were inquirers of the Way of Life. 
And while they were standing in a little group around me, 
there came up another man and got on the outside of the 
audience, and I thought by the expression of his face that 
he was skeptical. I did not think he had come to find 
Christ. But as I went on talking, I noticed the tears 
trickling down his cheeks. I said, "My friend, are you 
anxious about your soul's salvation?" He said, "Yes, 
very." I asked him what was the trouble, and I kept on 
talking to that one man, thinking that if he could under- 
stand me perhaps the others would. He said he wanted to 



HOW TO BE SAVED. 223 

feel all right about it. I explained to him by means of an 
illustration, and asked him, "Do you see it?" He said 
•• No." I used another, and asked him, "Do you see it 
yet?" and he said "No" again. I gave still another, and 
still he said he did not see. I then said, "Was it Noah's 
feeling that saved him; or was it his ark? "Was what saved 
Noah his righteousness? Was it his life, was it his prayers, 
was it his tears, was it his feelings, or was it the ark?" He 
came immediately and grasped me by the hand, and said, 
"I see it now; it is all right now; I've got to go away on 
the next train, and I'm in a hurry, but you have made it 
plain to me; good -by." And he went off. I thought it 
was so sudden that he could not have understood it. Bat 
the next Sunday afternoon he came and tapped me on the 
shoulder and smiled, and asked me if I remembered him. 
I said no, that I remembered his face, but could not tell 
who he was or where I had seen him before. He said, 
"Do you remember a man that came up into the inquiry- 
room the other day, and you explained to him how it was 
Noah's ark that saved him? I did not see any illustration 
until you used that one, and then I saw it all." I asked 
him how he was, and he said he had been all right ever 
since, and that the ark had saved him. I afterward 
learned that he was one of the best business men of Man- 
chester. His feelings did not save him. The ark saved 
him. 

I want to prove to you that salvation is instantaneous. 
It is just as sudden as a man walking through a doorway. 
One minute he is on this side, the next he is on that side* 



224: MOODY'S NEW SERM0N8. 

There was one minute when Noah was exposed to he 
wrath that was to come over the whole world; but when 
he went through the doorway of the ark, that moment he 
was safe. There are many who are trying to make an ark 
for themselves out of their feelings, out of their own good 
deeds. But God has provided an ark. If Noah had had 
to build himself an ark when the flood came, he would 
have been lost like the rest. A good many of those men 
who perished when that flood came tried to make arks for 
themselves, but they all perished helplessly. They tried 
to make boats and rafts, and tried every way they could 
to save themselves, but they perished because they were 
not in the ark that God had appointed. So to-day, every 
man and every woman must perish that is not in the ark 
which God has appointed for their salvation. A knowledge 
about the ark is not going to help you. A great many 
persons flatter themselves they are going to be saved because 
they know a great deal about Jesus Christ. But your 
knowledge of Him will not save you. Noah's carpenters 
probably knew as much about the ark as Noah did, and 
perhaps more. They knew that the ark was strong. They 
knew it was built to stand the Deluge. They knew it was 
made to float upon the waters. They had helped to build 
it. But they were just as helpless when the flood came as 
men who lived thousands of miles away. Men who lived 
right in sight of the ark, that knew all about it, perished 
like the rest, because they were not in the ark. I know 
something about the different lines of steamers, and I have 
crossed the Atlantic. Here is another man that has never 



HOW TO BE SA VER 225 

heard there was such a line of steamers. We both want to 
go to Europe. My knowledge of a line of steamers does 
not help me a bit if I do not take the means to go there. 
You may hear about Christ, but if you do not believe in 
Christ you oannot be saved. Your knowledge is not going 
to help you to your salvation. What you want to do is 
just to make Christ your ark, and then to step into that 
ark and be saved. 

I can imagine you saying, "I do not see how a person 
can be saved all at once." So, many persons think they 
have to work themselves out gradually, that they have to 
do a little here, a little there, and after they have toiled 
and worked, and have considered the matter prayerfully 
for some time, they will be more acceptable. The Israel- 
ites were told to sprinkle blood upon the door-posts, that 
the angel might not enter the houses where the blood was 
to be seen. There was one moment when they had not 
sprinkled the blood on their door-posts, and when they 
were exposed to the blight of the destroying angel; and 
there was another moment when the blood had been 
sprinkled there, and they were safe. There is a legend 
told about this which illustrates it very well. It is about a 
little girl who was the first-born, and consequently who 
would have been a victim on that night if the protecting 
blood were not sprinkled on the door-posts of her father's 
house. The order was that the first-born was to be struck 
by death all through Egypt. This little girl was sick, and 
she knew that death would take her, and she might be a 
victim of the order. She asked her father if the blood was 



226 MOOD Y \S NEW SERMONS. 

sprinkled on the door-posts. He said it was, thai he had 
ordered it to be done. She asked him if he had seen it 
there. He said no, but he had no doubt that it was done. 
He had seen the lamb killed, and had told a servant to 
attend to it. But she was not satisfied, and asked her 
father to go and see, and urged him to take her in his arms 
and carry her to the door to see. They found that the serv- 
ant had neglected to put the blood upon the posts. There 
the child was exposed until they found the blood and put 
it upon the door-posts, and when she saw it she was satis- 
fied. That was all the assurance that she needed. So a 
great many are saying, "Do you feel this and that? Do 
you feel, do you feel, do you feel?" God does not tell you 
to feel. He tells you to believe. He says, " When I see 
the blood I will pass over," and if you are sheltered behind 
the blood you are perfectly safe and secure. Suppose I 
say to a man, "Do you feel that you ow T n this piece of 
land?" He looks at me a moment and thinks I must be 
crazy. He says: "Feel? Why feeling has nothing to do 
with it. I look at the title. That is all I want." So you 
see, all you have to do is with the title. A great many are 
all the time saying: " Do you feel that you are safe?" But 
to all God says, "He that believeth in the Lord hath ever- 
lasting life." Not "will have," it is the present tense, 
hath it to-day, hath it this very hour. If the devil can 
make you believe you will be saved some time, and keep you 
from believing now and receiving now, that is all he wants. 
He knows that to-morrow will never come, and he puts it 
off from day to day, from month to month, and from year 



EO W TO BE 8 A VED. 227 

to year. My friends, Jesus Christ will never be more will- 
ing to save you than He is to-night, and the longer you put 
it off, the longer you wait, the further you are going from 
Him. Every day you put it off you are going back from 
God, and are making it harder for you to be saved. 

My next illustration is the serpent upon the pole. You 
sang a song to-night about it : " It is life just to look at the 
Crucified One," It is not to work that we are told. It is 
just to look. How simple! You know a fiery serpent had 
gone through Israel and bitten many people, and they died. 
And the Israelites went to Moses and said : " Entreat the 
Lord to take away this serpent." They did not ask for a 
remedy; they did not ask for the bitten ones to be allowed 
to recover. They could hear the groans of the dying all 
around. But God more than granted their prayers. God 
always gives us more than we ask for. He not only took 
away the serpent, but He said to Moses, "Make a brass 
serpent and put it on a pole and lift it on high, so that all 
who are bitten shall look and live. And it shall come to 
pass that when they look, they shall not die but live." 
How simple! A little child can look. It is so simple that 
the learned and the unlearned can look. You do not have 
to go to college to learn how to look. You do not have to 
pass through a university to learn how to look. That little 
child there is not more than three or four years old, but it 
understands how to look. If a mother wants her little 
child to look, she simply says, "Look, my child," and that 
is enough. So all that the bitten Israelites had to do was 
to look and live; and the very moment they looked they 



228 MOODY'S NEW SEBM0N8. 

were saved instantaneously. It was as sudden as a flash of 
lightning. So many people say, "I do not understand how 
it is so many people can be saved all at once." Well, that 
is Jesus' way, and that is all there is about it. "God's 
thoughts are not our thoughts, and God's ways are not our 
ways." If we had been going to save the world, we would 
have gone about it in a different way from God's way, I 
have no doubt. If we had been going to save the bitten 
Israelites, the last way we would probably have thought of 
would have been to make a brass serpent and put it upon 
a pole. But God works as He pleases, and we must learn 
that His ways are His own and must prevail; and we must 
listen to Him, and if He says we will be saved at once, and 
that salvation is instantaneous, all we have to do is to sub- 
mit and believe. Instead of looking at yourself, at your 
own sin, instead of looking at your past life, what you 
should do is just to take your eyes off of yourself and look 
at Christ. 

Now come back again to another Bible illustration. You 
know when the children of Israel came from the land of 
slavery and had the visitation of the fiery serpents, and 
after Moses had been commanded to raise the brazen ser- 
pent, he went to Pisgah and died, and Joshua led them 
into the Promised Land. Joshua then received a com- 
mand from God that he should erect six cities, three on 
each side of the Jordan, which were to be cities of refuge. 
These places were to be put far enough apart so as to cover 
the whole land, that any man, no matter where he might 
be when he should have occasion to seek them, could easily 



HO W TO BE 8A VED. 229 

gain access to one oi them. The gates of these cities were 
to be kept open day and night, and the chief men of each 
city — the magistrates — were to keep the ways to these 
places free of all obstacles and stumbling-blocks, so that no 
one should be hindered in getting within the walls. And 
not only should the roads be kept smooth and well in 
repair, but all the bridges leading oyer streams and rivers 
should be kept up and in good condition, and signposts 
were also to be placed at intervals along the road, showing 
the fugitive that he was on the right way — to keep him 
from straying. And to provide for the contingency of the 
man who was fleeing, not being able to read, there was a 
red finger put on the posts, which pointed the way. Thus 
a man, even if he could read, was not compelled to stop and 
thus lose time; he saw the sign and sped on. The cities 
were also placed on hills, that every one could see them. 
The cities were erected for this purpose. It was consid- 
ered a great dishonor among the Israelites if, when a man 
was killed, the nearest relation of him did not at once arm 
himself, seek out the slayer and kill him. Thus a man 
had no hope, if he had accidentally killed one, of saving 
his own life from the avenging hand of the brother or 
other relative, but to get within the walls of the nearest 
city of refuge; for it was the law that the moment he 
escaped that far the relation of the slain man could not 
touch him. Now for my illustration : Suppose I had killed 
a man unwittingly — that he and I had been out chopping 
in the woods, and suppose my axe had slipped out of my 
hand and had crushed in the skull of my companion. My 



230 MOOD T '8 NEW SERMONS. 

only hope would be to get to one of these cities — my only 
hope was to escape for my life. I should have had no time 
to loiter, no time to hesitate or argue, no time to consider. 
I should have to start at once. The brother of my com- 
panion who had been killed, though thus purely through 
accident, was near, and he was so incensed, or perhaps had 
some old score to pay off, that I should have no chance to 
stay and plead with him. He had made up his mind to 
kill me, and there was nothing left for me to do but fly. 
I know the young man's hot temper, and I see him on my 
track. I therefore spring out of the bush into the road, 
and it now becomes a life and death struggle. I see the 
city before me. Along the road I speed to the full extent 
of my strength. Down the hill I go as fast as I can; up 
the ravine I make my way; men see me coming; they do 
not check me, or throw any obstacles in my path; they get 
out of my way, and as I pass they wish me "God-speed," 
and warn me that the avenger is not far behind. Now I 
am in full view of the city; the gates are wide open; I 
know I shall not have to stop and knock when I get up to 
them. When I get closer, I see the citizens are on the 
walls. The information has reached them that a poor 
refugee is coming. Some of them have had to flee them- 
selves, and they sympathize with me. They thus await 
me; but they see I am hard pressed. I am almost on the 
point of giving out. But I say to myself, "Courage! an- 
other effort and I shall reach the gates and be safe." Oh, 
if I can only reach the city! Ah, my friends, just look at 
the city; don't let anything take your attention away, 



HO W TO BE SA VED. 231 

Look! look! see what I have to do. If I stop, loiter, or 
linger, I am lost. The avenger will soon be on me. I can 
almost hear him breathing behind me. I know his sword 
is ready to hew me down. I get nearer to the walls now. 
I see the people plainly; they beckon on with their hands. 
I strain every nerve. " Hurry, hurry he is almost upon you 
— oh, he will be killed." I bring every muscle into play. 
The people crowd around the gate to receive me. "Now, 
now," they cry. I make one more bound; I pass them; I 
am safe. That is instantaneous, isn't it? One minute I 
am under the avenging sword ready to fall upon my head; 
the next minute I am perfectly secure. The avenger can- 
not enter. The officers see to that; they will not let him 
come in with his sword. Can you, my friends, have a 
better illustration of this life? Don't you know that death 
is on yovr track now, and is ready to have you a victim? 
Don't j^ou know that he may be only a few years, a few 
months, a few weeks, a few days, or even a few moments 
only, from you? Even this very afternoon he may catch 
tp to you. You may think him miles and miles behind 
you, years and years away, but just as surely as you live, 
here he is only a little way behind you now — a great deal 
nearer than you imagine. Haste then to a place of refuge. 
If you are outside the city you perish; if you come within 
the walls of salvation you live secure. God has a city of 
refuge for you. He shows you by every unmistakable sign 
w r here it is, and He gives you warning that if you do not 
reach its walls you die. Come then. If you neglect these 
mercies how do you expect to save your life? How can you 



232 MOOD r8 NEW SERM0N8. 

loiter and linger when death is bearing down upon you? 
A little while and you will be lost; but if you make for the 
salvation offered to you, you will be safe in Christ, and you 
can look back and challenge death to his face. You can 
say in triumph, "Death, where is thy sting— grave where 
is thy victory." 



SOWING AND REAPING. 233 



SOWING AND HEAPING. 

You will find my text this evening in the sixth chapter 
of Galatians, seventh, eighth, and ninth verses: "Be not 
deceived ; God is not mocked ; for whatsoever a man soweth, 
that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall 
of the flesh reap corruption, but he that soweth to the 
Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us 
not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap, 
if we faint not." You who were here last Wednesday 
night remember that we had for our text, "Their rock 
is not as our rock, even our enemies themselves being 
judges," and then we tried to find a text which every one 
would admit was true. I think that we have one to-night 
that no infidel, no skeptic or deist can attack. There are 
some passages which we do not have to prove by the Word 
of God, but merely by our own experience. Your own 
lives will prove many passages in Scripture. You can take 
up the daily papers and see them fulfilled under your own 
eyes. This is one of them. Perhaps there has not been a 
text of Scripture run out in this Tabernacle as this one 
has. Night after night we have said something about it; 
night after night Mr. Sankey has sung out, " Whatsoever 
a man soweth that shall he also reap." My friends, we 
cannot quote it too often. We want to quote it, and 



234 MOOD Y 9 S NEW SERMONS. 

preach it till it gets down to the hearts of the people. 
Now, it is very natural to be deceived. I suppose there is 
not a man or woman here but who has been deceived by his 
or her most intimate friends. You have been deceived by 
your own friends, and you have been deceived by your 
enemies, and how many could rise up here and say they 
have not been deceived by themselves? How many of us 
have found our own heart more treacherous than anything 
else? How many of us have not found the truth of that 
passage, " The heart of man is deceitful above all things, 
and desperately wicked." We can be deceitful to each 
other, to our friends and to ourselves, but bear in mind we 
cannot deceive God. How often does man find that Satan 
has deceived him? But has he ever found God deceiving 
him? I have never found a man who has said that he has 
been or that he has heard of anybody whom God has 
deceived. How many times has a man said he has been 
deceived by his fellows — by his own treacherous heart; and 
our experience in this direction only shows that we cannot 
rely upon man, upon ourselves, but only upon God. 

Now, it is a law of nature that if a man sows he will 
reap what he sows. If a man sows watermelons, he don't 
look for cauliflowers; if a man sows potatoes, he don't look 
for cabbages; if he sows onions, he don't look for corn. 
If he plants potatoes, he expects potatoes; if he sows corn, 
he looks for corn; or wheat, he expects to reap wheat. So, 
in the natural world, a man expects to reap what he sows. 
If a man learns a carpenter's or a builder's trade, he 
expects to put up buildings for a living. If a man toils 



SOWING AND REAPING, 235 

and studies hard for a profession — if he is a lawyer, he 
expects to practice law. He don't expect to have to preach 
the Gospel for a living. He has been sowing for years, and 
he expects to reap. As a man sows, so he expects to reap. 
This is the law in the natural world, and so it is with the 
spiritual; "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be 
comforted;" " Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall 
be called the children of God;" "Blessed are they which 
hunger and thirst for righteousness' sake." Why? Be- 
cause they shall get rich? No — "for they shall be filled." 
Xow, you will see that a certain result is the product of 
certain conditions. This is the law which you will find 
carried out all through the world, in natural and spiritual 
things. If a man is a thief, you expect to see him come 
to an ignominious end. If a man is drunken and dis- 
sipated, we look, as a natural consequence of his dissipation, 
to see him go to ruin. Yet men themselves don't see this; 
their eyes are closed to their folly. A friend who was 
coming down with me to-night said: "When I look back, 
I see that I started wrong when I came here. It seems as 
if I must have been blind. I did not see this till within 
the last two or three weeks." My friends, that's what 
Satan does with a man — he just blinds him, and when 
he has got a man blinded he does anything he wants 
with him. It is very hard to make men understand this 
simple truth, that they will have to reap what they sow, 
especially young men from seventeen to twenty-one. That, 
you know, is the ugly age. There is more trouble with 
them then than at anv other stage. I remember when I 



236 MOODY'S NEW SERMONS. 

was at that age. I knew a good deal more than my mother 
or any of my friends. You take a young man at that age, 
and you'll find he knows a great deal more than his father, 
his grandfather, or even his great-grandfather, all put 
together. "He is wise in his own conceit." It is during 
that ugly age that characters are forming for good or evil; 
and bear in mind, you young men, that " Whatsoever a 
man soweth that shall he also reap." If a man sows tares, 
he has got to reap them. It may not be to-morrow, or 
next week, or next year, but the time of reaping will assur- 
edly come, and when the reaping time comes you will 
moan bitterly; then yoci will like to change places with 
those Christians whom you now despise. When the reap- 
ing time comes you would give a good deal if you could 
exchange places with the humblest-looking Christian. I 
suppose that Cain would give a good deal to exchange 
places with Abel to-night. Do you think Pilate would not 
like to change places with Elijah, with Obadiah, or Peter, 
to-night? Don't you think the Emperor Nero would like 
to exchange places now with Paul? Paul is reaping what 
he sowed, and so is Nero. All through Scripture you can 
see proof of this text. Don't you think that the rich man 
at whose door the beggar Lazarus lay would like to 
exchange places with that poor Christian now? Bear in 
mind that you may look upon Christians with contempt, 
but the time is coming when you will give anything to 
exchange places with the meanest Christian that walks tha 
streets. 
I used to believe twenty years ago in this text, but I 



SOWING AND REAPING. 237 

believe it more now than ever I did. The longer I live 
the more I become convinced of its awful truth. You 
know I used to live in Chicago, and I used to go from 
house to house among the poor, and in going among the 
poor I gained no little experience of the rich people. In 
visiting the poor I became acquainted with a good many 
rich families, and there is scarcely a week passes now but I 
hear of rich families who have gone down to ruin. Just 
this afternoon I heard of a family who, twenty years ago, 
occupied a position among the best. They had a beautiful 
daughter, who could have adorned any station, and a lovely 
home, and I heard to-day that they had gone down to ruin. 
They looked upon Christianity with scorn and contempt. 
The father brought the children up to treat all religion 
with contempt, and his sons have gone down to their graves 
drunkards, and his daughter has died of a broken heart. 
Yes, a man who sows tares must reap them, and sometimes 
the harvest is a whirlwind. 

Now, just let us divide that text up — not that I want to 
preach under different heads, but just for the sake of 
greater clearness. When a man sows he expects to reap. 
This truth must be admitted first. A farmer that planted 
grain and never reaped his fields, you would say had gone 
clear mad. No man sows that doesn't expect to reap. 
That is just what he does expect to do. The next point: 
A man always expects to reap more than he sowed. If he 
sows a handful of grain, he expects to get from that hand- 
ful a bushel, and if he sows a bushel he expects a harvest 
of five hundred bushels. And just so it is in spiritual 



238 MOOD Y'S NEW SERMONS. 

matters. If a man scatters handfuls of tares in spiritual 
things, his spiritual harvest will be bushels of tares, and 
not wheat. Whatever he sows he shall reap; just that and 
nothing more, and if he sows the wind he must reap the 
whirlwind. A man must expect a harvest of just the kind 
that his seed is; and this great law is even more true of 
spiritual growth than of natural growth. If a man is bad 
and corrupt in his thoughts, you can tell precisely what his 
deeds will be. 

If a man is profane and blasphemous, look to his children 
tc be the same; if a father is a lying man, his children will 
grow up to deceive him just as he deceived others. 
A bad boy is too often the living penalty of the sins 
of his parents; they have sown and watered, and now 
he is reaping the punishment. Another point: if a man 
sows, he must reap the fruit, no matter how ignorant 
he may claim to be, or really be, of the nature of the 
seed. A plea of ignorance won't do. You sow tares and 
think it wheat, but nothing but tares will spring up. You 
may call it wheat, or rye, or grain, or whatever name you 
please, but you get nothing but weeds and tares. You 
must look to what kind of seed you are sowing, for neither 
ignorance nor any other excuse can make tares bring forth 
wheat. And now, see how true that is, in regard not onlv 
to individuals but nations. Nations are only collections of 
individuals, and what is true of the part in regard to char- 
acter is always true of the whole. In this country our 
forefathers planted slavery in the face of an open Bible, 
and didn't we have to reap? When the harvest came 



SOWING AND REAPING. 239 

nearly half a million of your young men were buried, many 
of them in nameless graves. Didn't God make this nation 
weep in the hour of gathering the harvest, when we had to 
give up our young men, both north and south, to death; 
and every household almost had an empty chair, and blood, 
blood, blood, flowed like water for four long years? Ah, 
our nation sowed, and how in tears and groans she had to 
reap! 

Then look at that king in Egypt. He made a decree 
that all the male infants should be put to death, and to 
death they were put, with all the horrors that hatred and 
jealousy could invent. It was terrible. Well, now, I sup- 
pose some people think it strange that God didn't punish 
Egypt with swift destruction. But look, the punishment 
only tarried. The mill grinds slow, but it grinds exceed- 
ingly small; in eighty years cast your eye on that miserable 
land. God's vengeance at length came down, and ruin 
along with it. In every house in Egypt the first born was 
slain, from the palace to the lowest hovel. There still 
lived a God, and this immutable law of His had still to be 
executed; they had to reap just what they had sown. 
Then, sometimes the mill is not so slow. Sometimes the 
punishment comes rapidly — like lightning. No sooner did 
the voice ascend that Cain had killed his brother, than 
God came down and put a mark upon his forehead. 
Scarcely had Judas betrayed his master than he came back 
with his thirty pieces of silver, and, torn with remorse, 
threw them down before the priests, and went out and 
hung himself. You will find that very often judgment 



240 MOOD Y'S NEW SERMONS. 

and destruction come very sudden — come like a flash from 
the throne of God. I remember, in the north of England, 
a prominent citizen told me a sad case that happened there 
in the town of Newcastle-on-Tyne. It was about a young 
boy. He was very young, and he said he was too young to 
go to a Sunday school. He was an only child. The father 
and mother thought everything of him, and did all they 
could for him. But he fell into bad ways; he took up 
with evil characters and finally got to running with thieves. 
He didn't let his parents know about it. One night they 
got him to break into a saloon — what the people there call 
a public house. They stood outside while he entered the 
house and broke into the till. He was caught, and in one 
short week he was tried, convicted, and sent for ten years 
to Van Dieman's Land. His term of servitude expired, 
and he returned to his native land. He came to the town 
where his mother and father used to live, and soon stood at 
the door of his old home. He had been gone ten years, and 
what a change he found there. My friends, ten years seem 
a short time, but look back over the period of ten years in 
your lives, and see how many changes have taken place. 
He went to his old home and knocked, but a stranger 
came to the door and stared him in the face. "No, there's 
no such person lives here, and where your parents are I 
don't know," was the only welcome he received. Then he 
turned through the gate, and went down the street, asking 
even the children that he met about his folks, where they 
were living, and if they were well. But everybody looked 
Maiik, Ten years had rolled by ? and though that seemed 



SOWING AND HEAPING. 241 

perhaps a short time, how many changes had taken place} 
There where he was born and brought up, he was now an 
alien, and unknown even in his old haunts. But at last 
he found a couple of townsmen that remembered his father 
and mother, and they told him the old house had been 
deserted long years ago; that he had been gone but a few 
months before his father was confined to his house, and 
very soon after died broken-hearted ; and that his mother 
had gone out of her mind. He went to the mad-house 
where his mother was, and went up to her and said: 
"Mother, mother, don't you know me? I am your son!" 
But she raved, and slapped him on the face, and shrieked, 
" You are not my boy !" and then raved again and tore her 
hair. He left the asylum more dead than alive, so com- 
pletely broken-hearted that he died in a few months. Yes, 
the fruit was long growing, but at last it ripened to the 
harvest like a whirlwind, and vengeance made quick work 
of it. The death harvest was reaped. 

But bear in mind what I have said to-night, and be not 
doubters, even if the harvest is slow. Let me read you the 
passage: "Because sentence against their evil deeds is not 
executed speedily, therefore the hearts of the sons of men 
are fully set in to do them evil. Though a sinner do evil a 
hundred times and his days be prolonged, yet surely I 
know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which 
fear before Him, but it shall not be well with the wicked, 
neither shall He prolong His days, which are a shadow, 
because he feareth not before God." 

My friends, if you sow in the flesh you will reap disap- 



24$ UOOD Y'S ftEW SERMOm 

pointment; yon will reap gloom, despair and remorse; the 
harvest will be death and hell — that will be the end; but 
if yon sow of the Spirit, you will reap peace, joy, happi- 
ness, life everlasting; for God has said it. There are a 
great many things in this world that we are not sure of — 
we are sure of nothing, I may say. I am not sure that I 
will finish this sermon; I am not sure that I may go home 
to-night; we cannot say, positively, that the sun will rise 
to-morrow morning. Yes, my friends, there are a great 
many things that we are not sure of; but there is one 
thing that we are sure of, for God has said it. You can be 
sure that your sins will find you out. If we don't judge 
ourselves and confess our sins they will find us out. " He 
that covereth his sins shall not prosper;" that is God's 
decree. 

Now I have been censured by many for advising two 
men who had committed crime to go back and confess 
their sin. One man the other day was cursing me for 
doing so. "A pretty kind of religion this is," he said; but 
my friends, if a man has gone into a court and publicly 
perjured himself, he cannot serve God till he publicly con- 
fesses it. If he has sinned in public he must confess his 
sin in public. These men have gone back and written 
letters full of encouragement. One of them says, "Per- 
haps I will go to the penitenitary for three years, but 
what is that in comparison to the burden I would have 
carried had I not confessed." Now bear in mind that if 
you cover your sin you shall not prosper; you may keep it 
secret, but it will eventually come out. Look at the sons 




IRA D. SAXKEY, MR. MOODY'S CO-WOREER. 



SOWING AND REAPING. 243 

of Jacob! Look at them when they took away their 
brother, and after they had delivered him into slavery, see 
them coming back. How much they must have suffered 
with their secret during those twenty years! What misery 
they must have endured as they looked during all those 
years at their old father sorrowing for his son Joseph ! 
They knew the boy had not been killed — they knew he was 
in slavery. For twenty years the sin was covered up, but 
at last it came back upon them. God had in the meantime 
been doing everything for Joseph; he had raised him 
nearly to the throne of Egypt. A famine struck the land 
of the father, and the old man sent his sons down to Egypt 
to get corn. God was at work. He was making these 
men bring their own sin home to themselves. Their 
conscience smote them and they confessed in the presence 
of Joseph that their sin had found them out. Twenty 
years after it was committed that sin was resurrected, and 
with it they were brought face to face. My friends, be 
sure at once that your sin will find you out. God has said 
it, and if He says a thing He means it. "He that covereth 
his sins shall not prosper." I can imagine some one saying 
to Absalom when he started out to fight his father, "You 
shouldn't do this; you are committing a sin, and it will 
find you out." I can see that young friend looking down 
upon that man with scorn and contempt. The idea of his 
sins ever finding him out, ever coming back upon him! 
He probably would have said, "That man's talking for 
effect," like a good many say of me. You will hear some 
people say, "Well, now, any man who knows anything 



244 MOOD T'S NEW SERMONS. 

about education knows well enough that Moody is only 
preaching for effect." If a man tells me I am preaching 
for effect, I say, "Amen! Amen!" That's what I am try- 
ing to do; what does a man preach for if it is not for 
effect. I am trying to create an effect and so wake you up 
to your condition, and if you don't wake up, the reaping 
time will come upon you, the whirlwind of troubles and 
sorrows will rush over your defenseless head, and then you 
will reap what you have sown in years gone by. 

But let me say that if you are willing to confess your 
sins — I don't care what the sin may be — God is willing 
and ready to take it away. As I have said, there has been 
a great deal of talk about my interfering with those pris- 
oners lately. Some one has said in speaking about that 
man in Ohio, "Well, that is a queer kind of Christianity, 
to send a man away back to the penitentiary to suffer!" 
Let me say here that that young man has said in his last 
letter: "I think I am happier than you are, Mr. Moody; 
God is helping me to bear the burden; God is answering 
my prayers." My friends, it was a great deal better for 
that man to confess his crime than to try to hide it away. 
If a man commits a crime he should suffer the penalty. I 
must suffer the penalty if I break my arm in fighting. 
The man with whom I fought may forgive me for fighting 
with him, but I have to suffer all the same with my arm. 
A man got into a quarrel and got crippled, and some time 
ago he became converted, but although God has forgiven 
him his sin he has to remain a cripple all his life. So a 
man must reap what he sows. I heard of an illustration 



SOWIXG AND REAPING. 245 

*.hat just helps me out here. Suppose I have a field, and 
2 say to a man, "I want you to sow that field with wheat." 
The man has become very angry — all out of sorts with me, 
md when he sows that wheat he puts in a lot of tares. 
When the wheat has come up I see among it a great many 
tares. I say to him, "Did you sow these tares?" "Well," 
he says, "I will confess; yes, sir, I did it; I sowed these 
tares; I will confess it instead of covering it up; but, sir, 
I am very sorry;' 1 and I forgive him. But when the 
wheat has to be harvested I make the man reap the tares 
also. 

You know how David fell. No man rose so high and 
fell so far, I think. God took him from the sheepfold 
and put him upon a throne. He took him from obscurity 
and made him king of Israel and Judea; gave him lands 
in abundance, and would have given him more if he had 
wanted them. He was on the pinnacle of glory, and hon- 
ored among men. But one day, while looking out of a 
window, he saw a woman with whom he became enamored. 
He yielded to the temptation, and ordered her to be 
brought into the palace, and committed the terrible sin of 
adultery. After that, as is the case with all men who 
commit a sin, he had to commit another to cover it up, so 
he laid plans to kill her husband, and ordered him to be 
put in a position in the ranks of his army so that he could 
be killed. Months rolled away, and one day Nathan came 
into the palace of the king. I can imagine that David 
was glad to see him. Nathan began to tell him about two 
men who dwelt in a certain city. The one was rich, the 



246 MOOD 7 8 NEW SERMONS. 

other poor; one had herds and flocks, and the other had 
only a little ewe lamb, and he went on to tell how this 
rich man seized this ewe lamb, all that the poor man had, 
and slew it. I can see the anger of David as it flashed 
from his eye when he heard the story, and he cried: "As 
the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall 
surely die." He turned to Nathan, and in tones of thun- 
der demanded who the man was. "Thou art the man," 
was the reply of Nathan. David had convicted himself. 
"The man who did this thing shall die." Then the Lord 
said: "I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own 
house, because thou hast kept this thing secret." Soon 
after, the hand of death was put upon that house; not 
only did death enter his house; but it wasn't long before 
his eldest son committed adultery with his sister, and 
another committed murder — murdered his own brothers, 
and went off into a foreign land an exile. Then he got 
up a rebellion and drove the king from the throne, and at 
last died and was buried like a dog, and they heaped stones 
upon his resting place. " Whatsoever a man soweth, that 
shall he also reap." David committed adultery, so did his 
son; David committed murder, his son did the same. He 
was paid back in his own coin. He learned the truth of 
this passage: "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he 
also reap." W 7 hy, I hear things every day in this city 
that make my ears tingle. I heard of three cases 
within the last six hours where men who have gone to the 
altar and sworn before God to love, cherish, and protect 
the women who became their wives — who have become, 



SOWING AND REAPING. 247 

some of them, mothers of children — and, because these 
men have seen other women they liked better, they have 
cast off these women whom they have sworn before God to 
love. Do you think there is a God in heaven? Do you 
think that God is not going to punish these men? They 
may go on in their career — punishment may not come for 
a little while, but the wheels of judgment are going on, 
and retribution will come. Some of these heart-broken 
wives say it is hard. Wait a little while. His eyes cover 
all the earth, and man cannot deceive Him. He has said: 
"Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." 
High heaven has decreed it, and I beg of you, if you have 
committed this sin, go and cry to God for mercy. Go, 
confess it; don't try to cover it up. Let every sin be 
brought out; if you don't your own conscience will turn 
against you by and by. 

When I was in London I went into a wax-work there — 
Mme. Tussaud's — and I went into the chamber of horrors. 
There were wax figures of all kinds of murderers in that 
room. There was Booth, who killed Lincoln, and many 
of that class; but there was one figure that I got interested 
in, who killed his wife because he loved another woman, 
and the law didn't find him out. He married this woman 
and had a family of seven children, and twenty years 
passed away. Then his conscience began to trouble him. 
He had no rest; he could hear his murdered wife pleading 
continually for her life. His friends began to think he 
was going out of his mind; he became haggard, and his 
conscience haunted him, till at last he went to the officers 



248 MOOD Y y 8 NEW SEBMONS. 

of the law and told them that he was guilty of murder. 
He wanted to die, life was so much of an agony to him. 
His conscience turned against him. My friends, if you 
have done wrong, may your conscience be woke up, and 
may you testify against yourself. It is a great deal better 
to judge our own acts and confess them, than go through 
the world with a curse upon yon. And if you to-night 
will judge your own sin and confess it, He is faithful to 
forgive. He will forgive every sinner here if you but come 
to Him in faith, and Avill blot out all your iniquities. 

I was telling of a young man who spoke up in the asso- 
ciation one night. He got up at the close of the meeting 
and said, "Mr. Moody, may I say a few words?" Well, I 
thought I wouldn't, but then I thought perhaps he has a 
message from God, and I told him to speak. He went on 
and urged these young men to accept salvation. "If yon 
have friends praying for you, if you have mothers praying 
for you, treat them kindly, for you will not always have 
them with you." Then he went on to tell how he had 
once a father and a mother who loved him dearly, and who 
prayed continually for him. He was an only child. His 
father died, and after the burial his mother became more 
anxious than ever for his salvation. Sometimes she would 
come to him and put her arms around his neck and say 
with kindness, "Oh, my boy, I would be so happy if you 
would only be a Christian, and could pray with me." He 
would push her away: "No, mother; I'm not going to be- 
come a Christian yet; I am going to wait a little longer 
and see the world." He would try to banish the subject 



SOWING AND REAPING. 240 

from his mind altogether. Sometimes he would wake up 
at the midnight hour, and would hear the voice of that 
mother raised in supplication for her boy: "Oh, God, save 
my boy; have mercy upon him." At last, this is the way 
he put it: "It got too hot for him." He saw he had either 
to become a Christian or run away. And away he ran; 
and became a prodigal and a wanderer. He heard from 
her indirectly; he could not let his mother know where he 
was, because he knew she would have gone to the end of 
the world to find him. One day he got word that his 
mother was very sick. He began to think: "Suppose 
mother should die, I would never forgive myself," and he 
said, "I will go home," but then he thought, "Well, if I 
go home, she will be praying at me again, and I can't stay 
under her roof and listen to her prayers," and his proud, 
stubborn heart would not let him go. Months went on, 
and again he heard indirectly that his mother was very 
sick. His conscience began to trouble him. He knew he 
would never forgive himself if he didn't go home, and he 
finally determined. There were no railroads, and he had 
to go in a stage-coach. At night he got into the town. 
The moon was shining, and he could see the little village 
before him. The mother's home was about a mile from 
where he landed, and on his way he had to pass the village 
grocery, and as he went along he thought he w 7 ould pass 
through the graveyard and see his father's grave. " What," 
he thought, "if my mother has been laid there!" When 
he got up to the grave he saw by the light of the moon a 
new-made grave. He felt the turf, and the earth was fresh 



250 MOOD Y'8 NEW SERMONS. 

and soft. He knew who had been laid there, and for once 
in his life the thought flashed upon him, "Who will pray 
now for my lost soul? my mother and father lie there, and 
they are the only ones who ever prayed for me." " Young 
man," said he, "I spent that night at my mother's grave, 
and before the sun rose my mother's God had become my 
God. But I can never forgive myself for murdering my 
mother, although Christ has forgiven me." My friends, 
that poor fellow had to reap what he had sowed. 

I may be speaking to-night to some young man whose 
mother perhaps just now is in her closet, wrestling in 
prayer for you. Bless God, boy, for that mother. Do 
not treat that mother contemptuously; do not deny her 
prayer to-night; do not make light of your mother's cries 
to God this night. God's best gift on earth to you is that 
praying mother. She is your dearest, most unselfish 
friend in all the world. Will you not heed her pleading 
prayer? Come out like a man; come to your mother's 
Saviour, and take Him to be your God. May the God of 
heaven convict you of sin, and draw you to Himself, and 
this will be the best night you've had upon earth. 

How many are there in this room to-night who have 
moral courage to stand up right in this Tabernacle and 
say, "Pray for me?" How many in this room to-night 
would like to become Christians? How many are there in 
this room now who would like to have prayer for them, 
beseeching prayer, that God will save them? I am going 
to lead in prayer, and as many as would like to have prayer 
— personal prayer, to God, will just rise. You can just 



SOWING AND REAPING. 251 

stand right up one after another. Never mind if there is 
but one of you ; just remain standing. There's another 
who's got moral courage to rise to-night. Just stand up, 
will you, and remain so while others join you. There, 
there, friends, don't get up as if you were ashamed or 
scared; rise up and show me and God that you are in 
earnest. I would like to see every man out of Christ ris- 
ing right up here. There's another in the gallery, and 
another; well, keep rising; I would sit here all night and 
see you rise up in the galleries there and everywhere. 
Every man and woman in this assembly, every boy, who 
would like to be a Christian, will you just rise now, all of 
you. 



252 MOOD Y'8 NEW SERMONS. 



HOW TO CONVEET INFIDELS. 

At the forenoon meeting of Thursday Mr. Moody spoke 
on "The Bible: how to study it, and how to use it." He 
said, in substance: It is a great thing to acquire an appe- 
tite for the Word of God. If we can get a love for the 
Word, we will get something that will last. I would like 
to find the first Christian feeding upon the Word of God 
without growing. A great many Christians wonder why 
they don't grow. It's because they are not feeding. A 
good many souls are all dried up, all withered up, because 
they haven't been fed. I think David had this idea when 
he wrote the one hundred and nineteenth Psalm. There 
must be something in the fact that the longest chapter in 
the Bible is about the Bible itself. I want to call your 
attention to nine passages in the one hundred and nine- 
teenth Psalm, twenty-fifth verse — "Quicken me according 
to Thy Word." Thirty-seventh verse— "Quicken Thou 
me in Thy way." Fortieth verse — "Quicken me in Thy 
righteousness." W T hat does this nation need to-day more 
than to be quickened in righteousness? It is not mere 
gush and sentiment this nation wants, so much as it is a 
revival of downright honesty. Fiftieth verse — "This is 
my comfort in my affliction : for Thy Word hath quick- 
ened me." Eighty-eighth verse — "Quicken me with Thy 



HOW TO CONVERT INFIDELS. 253 

loving kindness." Ninety-third verse — "I will never for- 
get Thy precepts, for with them Thou hast quickened 
me." One hundred and seventh verse — "I am afflicted 
very much: quicken me, Lord, according to Thy Word." 
One hundred and fifty-sixth verse — "Plead my cause and 
deliver me; quicken me according to Thy Word." One 
hundred and fifty-sixth verse — "Great are Thy tender 
mercies, Lord; quicken me according to Thy judg- 
ments." That is the way it goes — quicken me according 
to Thy word, according to Thy precepts, according to Thy 
way. That's what we all want to pray this morning. An 
old Scotchman made this remark: "David said 'I have hid 
Thy Word in my heart.' That was a good thing, in a 
good place, for a good purpose." Some people carry the 
Bible under their arms. Well, that's better than not to 
carry it at all. Some people have got a good deal of it in 
their heads. That's better. But when you get it in the 
heart, that is best of all. When a man gets the Bible in his 
heart, it is going to make a change in his whole life. The 
trouble with a good many Christians is they are good in 
spots. A man once said he had a good well, only it would 
dry up in summer and freeze up in winter. Some Christians 
are just like that well — good at certain times. But when a 
man is feeding on the W T ord of God he is good all the time. 
I really think that instead of so many of the prayer meet- 
ings we have, we ought to have more meetings for reading 
and studying the W T ord of God. W 7 hen I pray, I am talk- 
ing to God; when I am reading the W r ord, it is God 
speaking to me. David said the Word of God was like 



S54 M dob T '8 ft£W SMMONS. 

fire in his bones. I don't believe a man or woman is fit 
for God's service till they catch fire in this way. 

Now, it is getting to be very common — very fashionable 
in certain quarters, even among professed Christians — to 
hear men say, "I believe in the New Testament, but I 
don't believe in the Old." We hear that on the right 
hand and on the left. I pray to God that we may be de- 
livered from this idea. It is doing a thousand times more 
harm than all the lectures of infidels to hear Christians 
say, "This and this isn't inspired." One minister said he 
had cut everything down to the four Gospels. They con- 
tained everything, and he didn't see why he shouldn't do 
as St. Paul did, and go to the fountain head. It wasn't 
long before that man fell into sin. Unsound in doctrine, 
unsound in practice. We want to believe the whole Bible. 
We want to take the whole of it, from Genesis to Eevela- 
tion. It is most absurd to hear a man talk about believing 
in the New Testament, and not believing the Old. In the 
four Gospels Christ quotes from twenty-two of the books 
of the Old Testament. I suppose we get only a fragment 
of what Christ said. I believe that for years after the 
death of Christ the air was full of the words which fell 
from His lips. And, so, I have no doubt, that in His 
quotations from the Old Testament He quoted from every 
book. In His words, as recorded in Matthew, we find 
nineteen quotations, in Mark fifteen, in Luke twenty-five, 
and in John eleven different passages; not only just iso- 
lated verses, but great blocks taken out of the Old Testa- 
ment and transferred into the New. So you see how 



HOW TO CONVERT INFIDELS. 255 

absurd it is for men to say they believe in the New and 
don't believe in the Old. Why, the New Testament is 
made up largely from passages from the Old. Over and 
over again you will hear Christ say, "This is done that the 
Scriptures might be fulfilled." In Hebrews there are 
eighty-five Old Testament quotations. In Eevelations there 
are two hundred and forty-five — more than in any other 
book. "Heaven and earth shall pass away," said Christ, 
"but My word shall not pass away." How absurd for any 
one to think the Word of God is going to pass away! 
There never was a time in the history of the world when 
so many Bibles were being printed as there are to-day. 
When Christ was speaking those words I can just imagine 
I hear some infidel saying: "'Heaven and earth shall pass 
away, but My Word shall not pass away !' Hear that Jew- 
ish peasant talk! I never heard such conceit in my life 
from any one." There was no shorthand reporter taking 
down His words, and they seemed to have been lost. But 
nearly nineteen hundred years pass away, and His words 
are going to the very corners of the earth, in two hundred 
and fifty different languages. There are about 1,400,000,000 
people in the world, and over 200,000,000 copies of the Bible 
have been printed by the American Bible Society and the 
British and Foreign Bible Societies. Then there are societies 
in Germany, France, and other countries, exclusive of indi- 
viduals, that are printing and circulating the Scriptures. 
In fact, there have been more Bibles printed in the last 
seventy years than there were in the previous eighteen 
hundred years. I consider that a greater miracle than any 



256 MOOD Y>S NEW SERMONS. 

other which Christ wrought when He was here on earth, 
I'm glad I live in the present day and can see it. 

A lady said to me lately, "I can't believe that Elijah 
was fed by ravens. Do you?" I have no more doubt that 
the ravens fed Elijah than I have that I stand here. The 
very things in the Old Testament that men cavil at the 
most to-day are the things the Son of Man set His seal to 
when He was down here, and it is not good policy for a 
servant to be above his master. The Master believed these 
things. Some oue says: "You don't believe the story of 
Noah and the flood, do you?" Yes; I believe that as 
much as I believe the Sermon on the Mount. Christ said 
that when He should come again it would be as in the days 
of Noah, when men were eating and drinking, and the 
flood came and took them all off. "You don't believe 
Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt?" Yes: Christ 
said: "As it was in the days of Lot, so shall it be in the 
coming of the Son of Man." He believed that story of 
Lot's wife — hadn't any doubt about it. "Do you believe 
that the children of Israel were fed in the desert on 
manna?" Christ said: "Your fathers ate manna." "Do 
you believe the Israelites were saved by looking on a brass 
serpent?" Christ said : " Even as Moses lifted up the brazen 
serpent." Men will stretch their necks, and look very 
wise, and say: "Why, you don't believe that story about 
Jonah and the whale?" Yes, I do. Christ said: "For as 
Jonah was three days in the whale's belly, so shall the Son 
of Man be three days in the bowels of the earth." " But," 
they say, "this was impossible. The whale is so con- 



MOW TO CONVERT INFIDELS. 257 

strncted that it couldn't swallow a man." Well, what 
does the Bible say? "God prepared a great fish." If He 
could speak this world into existence, I think He could 
speak a fish into existence big enough to swallow a man. 
I have a good deal of sympathy with that old colored woman 
who said if the Bible said Jonah swallowed the whale she 
would believe it; God could make a man large enough to 
swallow a whale. There's no trouble about these things, 
dear friends; no difficulty at all. One of these modern 
philosophers, discussing the story of Balaam, said he had 
examined the mouth of an ass, and it was physically im- 
possible for an ass to speak. "Ah," said a friend "you 
make an ass, and I will make him speak." There's noth- 
ing more unreasonable than infidelity. 

The best way to convert an infidel is to take him to the 
prophecies fulfilled. Look at the prophecies concerning 
Christ. "His name shall be called wonderful." Wasn't 
everything about Him wonderful? born of a virgin, carried 
into Egypt, astounding the doctors when twelve years old 
in the Temple. Everything about His three years' minis- 
try was wonderful — the miracles He performed, His cruci- 
fixion with the sun darkened and the veil of the Temple 
rent, His resurrection. Isn't His name wonderful to-day? 
Nineteen hundred years have passed, and what crowds will 
flock to hear about Christ! No other name could have 
brought you into this little town. Nothing else brought 
you from all over the country but to be with Jesus. Yes; 
His name is called wonderful. 

And so, my friends, what we want is just to take up the 



258 MOOD 7 'S NEW SERMONS. 

Word of God and let it speak for itself. I have been won« 
derf ully blessed to-day in reading about Babylon falling. 
Take the prophecies in regard to Ninevah, and see how 
they have been fulfilled. When I was in the British Mu- 
seum, a lady called my attention to certain relics from 
Ninevah. I looked at them with more interest through 
her specs. In Nahum iii, 6, the Lord says concerning 
Ninevah: "I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and 
make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazing stock." Isn't 
that exactly what it is, with hundreds of thousands of 
people looking at these things in the British Museum 
taken up out of Ninevah. "They that look upon thee 
shall flee from thee, and say, Ninevah is laid waste." 
Isn't it what travelers are saying to-day? And then look 
at Tyre. In Ezekiel xxvi, 5, the Lord says: "It shall be 
a place for the spreading of nets in the middle of the sea." 
Mr. Corbin, correspondent of the Boston Journal, visited 
Palestine in 1868, and he has told me that one night, 
pitching his tent on the side of Tyre, what should he see 
but a number of men on a bare rock spreading their fish- 
ing nets. Taking out his Bible he read this prophecy, 
and noticed how literally it was fulfilled. 

It is true there are things in the Bible we don't under- 
stand, but we are not going to say, "I don't believe it 
because I don't understand it." A man said to me once, 
"What do you do with that passage? How do you under- 
stand it?" "I don't understand it." "How do you 
explain it?" "I don't explain it." "What do you do?" 
"I don't do anything. " There are lots of things I believe 



HOW TO CONVERT INFIDELS. 259 

that I don't understand. There are a good many things 
in astronomy, a good many things about my own system, I 
don't understand; yet I believe them. And I'm glad 
there are things in the Bible I don't understand. If I 
could take that book up and read it as I would any other 
book, I might think I could write a book like that, and so 
could you. I am glad there are heights I haven't been 
able to climb up to. I am glad there are depths I haven't 
been able to fathom. It's the best proof that the book 
came from God. I suppose there are a good many things 
in the prophecies concerning Christ that no one could un- 
derstand till Christ came and fulfilled them. Just look at 
some of those prophecies. He was to be born in Bethle- 
hem, and carried into Eygpt. When that announcement 
was made, how strange it must have sounded! But when 
the time came, God put the whole world in motion to 
bring Mary to Bethlehem, so that Jesus might be born 
there. Caesar issued a decree that the whole world should 
be taxed. All this was done just to bring that virgin up 
to Bethlehem. I believe that God would have created a 
world rather than that any prophecy should be unfulfilled. 
Now the question is, How are you going to read this 
book? When I was a young man I thought I must be fed 
with ecclesiastical spoons. Sometimes I got sawdust; 
sometimes I got salt; sometimes I got bread. When my 
little boy Paul first learned to find the way to his mouth, 
he wanted everybody to know about it, and it was a great 
event in our family. Lots of men have been in the Church 
forty years, and if you ask them what they believe they 



260 MOODY'S NEW SERMONK 

will say, "What the Church believes." "Well, what does 
the Church believe?" "I don't know." I don't believe 
any child of God is going to grow till he has learned to 
feed himself. What may be good for me may not be good 
for you. 

I have been wonderfully blessed, in studying the Bible, 
by taking up one book at a time. I used to try to read 
the Bible through in a year. I would as soon read a dic- 
tionary that way now. Sometimes I want something to 
stir me up; other days, I want something to comfort me. 
When you read right through, you don't get much com- 
fort. It is a great deal better, it seems to me, to take a 
book at a time. Or take a character. Or take a type. 
How many antetypes there were of Christ — Adam, Abel, 
Enoch, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and so on all 
through the Old Testament. What a beautiful type Jo- 
seph is — hated, rejected, and then raised to a throne. 
You can't look into these things without getting fed. 
Another good thing is to take a subject. That's what we 
are trying to do in the Boys' School — and that's how we 
are getting the boys grounded in the fundamental doctrines 
of the Bible. 

Take "Repentance," for example. Read up everything 
you can find about repentance. Take time. Suppose 
you spend a month; you couldn't spend it better. Get 
people's idea of repentance, and then see what the Bible 
says about it. Dozens of people have repented who don't 
know what repentance is. They think they have got 
to have some strange kind of feeling. A man I used to 



HO W TO CON VER T INFIDELS 20 1 

meet would say to me every time I spoke to him, "Mr. 
Moody, it hasn't struck me yet. A neighbor of mine 
has been converted, and he has been a changed man since; 
bat it hasn't struck me." Lots of people think repentance 
is going to strike them like lightning. Well, now, repent- 
ance don't come in that way. See what Bible repentance 
is. It isn't fear, it isn't feeling. 

Then take up " Conversion." Lots of people say, " I hate 
that word." In some churches there isn't much said about 
it, because people don't like it. But I have learned that 
sometimes the medicine people don't like may be the very 
best medicine for them. I don't like to take pills, but they 
may be the very thing I need. When people shrug their 
shoulders and say, "I don't like conversion," it is just the 
thing they want. 

Take up the Scripture doctrine of the necessity of being 
born again. Lots of people think they can go to heaven 
on a good moral character. Look at the parable of the 
Prodigal Son. I would rather be the younger brother 
than the other. The elder brother had what the world 
calls a good moral character, and yet I think he was about 
the meanest case in the whole Bible. He wouldn't rejoice 
when his younger brother got home, and didn't like it 
when his father had mercy on him. What caused joy in 
the father's heart caused envy in his. When he heard 
music and dancing he wouldn't go in, and just marred 
that beautiful scene. Many churches are in the position 
of that elder brother, and don't believe in conversion. I 
wonder what some of these people will do when they get 



262 MOOt) Y >S NEW SERMONS. 

to heaven, and some converted thief is brought in. I sup- 
pose they'll say, "Don't come near me. I don't want to 
be near you." Or when they meet Mary Magdalene, what 
will they do? I just think they will have to have a little 
corner in heaven somewhere off by themselves. They 
can't sing the song of Moses and the Lamb — the song of 
redemption. A man must be made meet for the Kingdom 
of God before he will want to go there. Put a man in the 
presence of God before he is made meet for that presence, 
and he won't want to stay — it would be hell there for him. 
A man must be born of the Spirit — born again — regener- 
ated. We are hearing a good deal about reform, but what 
we want is regeneration. 

Then take up "Faith." We have got false ideas about 
faith. I used to think that God was going to give me all 
the faith I wanted right away. I was going to do wonders. 
God was going to give me faith enough to remove moun- 
tains — turn the world upside down. "Faith cometh by 
knowledge." The more you know about people the more 
faith you will have in them, if they deserve it. You will 
have faith in a good man if you have known him two 
years; but you will know him a good deal better after ten 
years, and you will have more faith in him. Faith grows. 
And the way to get acquainted with God is by studying 
His word. 

Take up "Justification" and "Pardon." Lots of people 
don't know there is any difference between the two things. 
But there is a great deal of difference. Suppose I commit 
some crime, and I am convicted, and then the governor 



BOW TO CONVERT INFIDELS. 263 

pardons me. I come back to this town a pardoned man. 
But suppose the judge says there is nothing against me; I 
come back in a different position. There is a good deal of 
difference between justification and pardon. What you 
want is to read up these subjects. It is a great thing to 
be a justified man — God-justified. And I think that 
brings light upon that eighth chapter of Eomans. Who 
shall condemn one of God's elect? God justified me, and 
is he going to let any one turn round and bring something 
against me? That would be a queer God, wouldn't it — a 
queer judge? These great doctrines ought to be studied. 
Take " Sanctification." I hear a great many people talk- 
ing about sanctification; but I think we ought to go more 
to the Bible to see what it says, and let the Word of God 
speak for itself. When I was converted I thought I was 
going to have no more trouble with the old nature. But I 
soon found that the old nature was there. I had just as 
bad a temper as if I hadn't been converted, and I would 
say, "Why, that is the old temper coming back." By and 
by I learned that when a man is converted he has got two 
natures, the carnal nature and the spiritual nature. He 
has got a higher nature and a lower nature. He has got 
the old man yet. Do you think he is dead? Judicially 
he is, but in reality he ain't. If he was, you wouldn't 
have to watch him, would you? If a man is dead he ain't 
going to run away, is he? We have to keep watching the 
old man, and putting him in subjection all the time. I 
don't know any doctrine that needs more to be preached 
in our churches than this, that there is danger of the old 
man coming back. 



264 MOOD Y>S NEW SERMONS. 

I haven't got time to speak of the doctrine of the 
Resurrection. I've got more comfort out of that doctrine 
than out of any other in the whole Bible. I look for- 
ward to the time when I am going to have a resurrected 
body. My Saviour is going to give me a body like His 
glorious body, that cannot faint and cannot die. It is 
going to be just like His. I do not know anything that 
will take a man out of the world much quicker than this 
idea. You must look in the New York papers to see how 
bonds and stocks are. It takes a man right out of the 
current of the world. Then there is the controversy about 
the Millennium. Some say Christ is coming at the begin- 
ning of the thousand years, and others that He is coming 
at the end of it. Let the Bible speak for itself. Don't 
listen to what this man and that man says about it, but 
study the Bible. And as Bishop Stevens, of Philadelphia, 
used to say, "Don't study it with your little red light of 
Methodism, or your little blue light of Presbyterianism, or 
the light of the Episcopal Church, but just the light of 
Calvary." Come without prejudice and say, "Whatever 
this book teaches I must receive." Don't say, "Well, I 
don't believe He is coming anyway for a thousand years." 

Take up the doctrine of "Assurance." A good many 
people honestly believe that it is presumptuous to say they 
are saved — that they have passed from death unto life — 
that they are going to have a place at God's right hand. 
But this book teaches very clearly that we can know we 
are saved. If we want light we can get it. We can know 
we have passed from death unto life if we are in earnest 



HOW TO CONVERT INFIDELS. 265 

about it. There are twenty-one chapters in the Gospel of 
John, and they all speak of believing. "Believe" is the 
key of that Gospel. It just runs right straight on in 
the whole book. But tusn over into John's first Epistle, 
and you will find that the key to that Epistle is "Know." 
Forty-two times that word occurs in these few chapters. 
"These things are written that ye might know." I don't 
believe it is the mind of God we should go through the 
world in darkness, not knowing whether we have been 
saved or not. I think the best book on Assurance is 
the first Epistle of John. If you are in doubt about your 
own salvation read it, and you will know. I think Christ 
taught this doctrine very clearly when the disciples came 
back to Him after He had sent them out by twos. They 
were greatly rejoiced because they had had such wonderful 
power, but He seemed to check them, and said, "I will 
give you something to rejoice for. Eejoice that your names 
are written in Heaven." He wanted them to know it. Do 
you think Paul, amid all his difficulties and persecutions, 
would have gone right on if he hadn't known his name 
was written in heaven? Do you think those martyrs 
would have gone to the stake if they had had any doubt 
about their salvation? It is the privilege of every child 
of God to walk in the light— to say, "Abba, Father! 
Heaven is my home. God is my Father, Jesus Christ is 
my Saviour." I have just touched some of these great 
doctrines. 

In closing, let us take the Book, and let us believe it 
from beginning to end— every word true — and the words 



266 MOOD Y'S NEW SERMONS. 

we can't understand, let us believe them. You that are 
working in the vineyard, feed on the Word of God. I 
believe the reason the people won't come more than they 
do into our churches is because we don't feed them enough 
on the Word of God. They have been fed on sawdust 
long enough. For men who have nothing but essays it is 
hard to get pulpits, and it will be harder. The reason 
there are so many pulpits vacant is that there aren't men 
enough willing to give the Word of God. Go into one of 
our city parks in winter to feed the birds and throw down 
a handful of sawdust. You may deceive them once, but 
you won't a second time. But throw down crumbs, and 
they'll sweep them up. So in the churches, give people 
the Word of God and they will know the difference. A 
man once made an artificial bee, and thought no one could 
tell the difference between that and a real bee. But an- 
other man said he could show the difference. He put the 
two bees down on the table, and then put a drop of honey 
before them. The real bee went for the honey. There 
are a great many artificial Christians, and they don't want 
the Word of God. They'll go somewhere else. Well, let 
them go. For every one that goes, five will take his place. 
What we want is to give people the Word of God in season 
and out of season. I think we have got to have more ex- 
pounding. A great many churches have mere exhortations 
all the time and it gets very tiresome. There's got to be 
expounding as well as exhortation. I have got an idea 
that the Sunday morning services ought to be given to 
expounding and the afternoon or Sunday night given to 



HO W TO CONVERT IN FID ELS. 267 

exhortation or preaching. I believe that is the reason the 
Scotcli people have got the advantage of us Americans. 

I don't believe there is any place in the world where 
error has such a slim chance of getting a hold as in Scot- 
land. The Scotch are a most wonderful people. You've 
got to be careful in preaching to them, or the first thing 
you know some old woman will come up with her Bible 
under her shawl, and say: "Here; you said so and so. 
The Bible says so and so." If yon make a misquotation, 
a Scotchman will straighten you right up; but you might 
make forty misquotations in an American church and 
nobody would know the difference. We would have better 
preaching if people would open their Bibles and see 
whether a man is preaching the Word of God. In Scotland 
a minister doesn't think of preaching till everybody has 
found the text. Go to Dr. Bonar's church, in Glasgow. 
One of the most impressive scenes is to see twelve hundred or 
thirteen hundred people, and not a soul but has got a Bible. 
The old doctor will wait till every one has found the place, 
then he will tell them what the passage in that place means, 
and then he goes on to another verse. When I was in 
London the last time, a solicitor — a lawyer — from Edin- 
burgh, came down to London to spend a Sunday there. 
After I had got through preaching, and had gone back to 
my little room, he came and said, "I was at Glasgow to 
hear Dr. Bonar." I said, "I wish you would tell me what 
he preached about," and he went on and told me. The 
subject was that passage in Galatians in which Paul tells 
of his going up to Jerusalem to see Peter. The doctor, 



268 MOOD Y'S NEW SERMONS. 

said my friend, just let his imagination loose a little in 
describing what took place between Paul and Peter. He 
conld imagine that one day Peter said, "Paul, will you 
take a walk to-day?" " Yes." So, arm-in-arm they walk, 
talking about the Kingdom of God. A little while and 
they enter the Garden of Gethsemane, and Peter says, 
"There is the very spot where Christ prayed. John fell 
asleep there. James right there. I was right there, 
as eep. I didn't know what He was passing through, 
though I had never seen Him so sorrowful. When I 
awoke, an angel stood right there, and there was Christ, 
sweating great drops of blood, the blood running down 
His face — passing through that last agony." The next 
day Peter turns to Paul and says, " Will you take another 
walk to-day?" That day they go out toward Calvary, and 
all at once Peter stops, and says, "There, Paul; this is the 
very spot where His cross was. It isn't quite filled up 
yet. One bleeding thief was hanging there, and the other 
there. Mary stood right there, John there, and James 
there. I was on the outskirts of the crowd. I couldn't 
bear to get near Him that day. I couldn't catch a glimpse 
of His eye, but just looked on Him." The next day Peter 
turns to Paul and says: "Paul, shan't we take another 
walk to-day?" "Yes; I would be very glad." They go 
out toward Bethany, and suddenly Peter says, "There, 
Paul; this is the very last spot where I saw Him. We 
were talking with Him, and all at once I noticed His feet 
didn't touch the ground, and the last I ever saw of Him, 
He was up in the air; and while I stood there, two men — - 



HOW TO CONVERT INFIDELS. 269 

might have been Moses and Elias, I didn't know — appeared 
and talked to us." Now, don't yon think people like that 
kind of preaching? It will warm up these cold hearts of 
ours to hear about Christ. Don't you think that literally 
took place? Nineteen hundred years have passed away, 
and w r e go to Jerusalem and try to find these spots; and 
tell me that while Paul was the guest of Peter he wouldn't 
take him and show him the very spot where the Lord and 
Master had gone away to heaven? I haven't any doubts 
about it. And what we want is just to take the Scriptures 
and make them real. That's what we want — to hear about 
Jesus Christ — and any minister that can feed his people 
and tell them about Christ is the man I want to hear. 
That's what we want in our churches. God help you that 
are preaching to preach the Word of God. Make it as plain 
as you can. If we had more of the "Word of God there 
would be fewer defalcations and scandals inside the Church. 
It seems to me the time is coming when there should be a 
change in the churches of God in this land. 



"EXCUSE GIVING." 

Luke, xiv. chapter, 18, 19 and 20th verses. 

I will call your attention to-night to the three men I 
have just read about. The first said unto him, "I have 
bought a piece of ground and I must needs go and see it; 
I pray thee have me excused." 

To-night I have an invitation for you to a feast, not an 
ordinary but a royal feast. The same invitation that was 
extended to these three men nineteen hundred years ago 
nearly is extended still to you. And you will notice that 
those three men all with one consent began to make excuses. 
Now these three men didn't have an excuse, so they made 
one — there is a difference between having and making 
excuses. The first had bought a piece of ground and 
wanted to see it, just at supper time; he hadn't made a 
partial bargain and was afraid some one would step in and 
he would lose the land; I will venture to say he had gone 
over every rod of it lengthwise and across — men don't buy 
land without going to look at it; but he made that excuse. 
He could have accepted the invitation and gone to look 
over the land too, he had plenty of time, but he wanted 
gome excuse. 



MOOD T '8 LA TEST SERMONS. 271 

The second man had bought five yoke of oxen and must 
prove them. Why didn't he prove them before he bought 
them? He had plenty of time to prove them; we know 
that he never took the oxen out of the stall that night, he 
had plenty of time to accept the invitation and then go and 
prove his oxen, but he didn't want to go so he hid behind 
the five yoke of oxen. 

The third man's excuse was more absurd than the other 
two. " I have married a wife and therefore I cannot come." 
Why didn't he take his wife along with him? It would 
have been just the place for a young bride; young brides 
like to go to a feast. But the fact is the man didn't want 
to go and hadn't the honesty to come out and say so. 

I have no doubt there are hundreds of men who think 
they could conjure up a good deal better excuse than these 
three men. Now I challenge you. If any of you men 
iave a better excuse get up and give it. These excuses 
look very absurd when you come to look at them, but your 
own wouldn't look any better. 

One of the popular excuses now is this old book. You 
talk to a man now, especially a young man, and he says "I 
cannot become a Christian because there are so many 
things in that old book that I cannot understand." Well, 
I want to say in the first place you don't know anything 
about it. There are very few men who have read the 
Bible any way. Of all the skeptics I have seen, I have 
never seen but one who claimed to have read it through, 
and I doubted him, because he could not give but one verse 
in the Bible, and that was, "Jesus wept." You know it 



m 



" excuse giving: 9 



is very easy for men to talk about what they don't know 
anything of. 

As for the msyteries in that book I am glad they are 
there. I am glad that there are heights and depths that 
I have never been able to fathom, and length and breadth 
that no man has ever been able to find out. If I could 
take that book up and understand it all it would be pretty 
good proof that it did not come from God. 

It is easy to talk against this book, but did you ever 
think how dark this old world would be without it? Mil- 
lions of men have gone down to the grave because of their 
loyalty to it. They have tried to stamp it out, but God 
has raised up witnesses for it. I thank God I live where 
this Bible is read. Anarchy, nihilism, socialism, would 
sweep this whole country, your property and your life 
would not be safe, if it was not for this old book. 

If you do not like the Bible it is because it condemns 
your sins. So if you see a man to-morrow talking against 
the Bible you may know he gets hit. Throw a stone among 
a group of dogs and the dog that gets hit goes off yelping 
every time. 

But there is a Scotchman over there, he says, "Mr. 
Moody's excuses don't touch me at all. I don't know as I 
am one of the elect. If I am elected to be saved I will be 
saved, and if I am not I won't. I have nothing to do with 
it." Now you have nothing more to do with the doctrine 
of election than the government of China. There is not 
one line about election put before the unbeliever, your 
word is "whosoever." Why don't you carry the sam§ 



MOOD Y 'S LA TKST SERMONS. % ? g 

argument into temporal things? To-morrow don't go to 
business; if God has decreed you shall succeed in business, 
you will. If not, you won't. 

I don't know that I am right in my theory, but I 
imagine that when Christ appeared to John in Patmos in 
the spirit on the Lord's day he said: "John, I want you to 
write some messages to the churches," and he went on to 
write them; and then He said: " Before you seal up the 
book put in an invitation so broad that the whole world 
may feel invited;" and so the last invitation let down into 
this thirsty world is, " The Spirit and the Bride say come, 
and let him that heareth say come, and let him that is 
athirst come, and whosoever will let him take the water of 
life freely." 

Now there is a young man tip in the gallery who says, 
"Mr. Moody don't touch my difficulty, I tell you the rea- 
son I don't become a Christian. You want me to put on 
one of those long faces, look right straight np and down 
and have no more pleasure until I get to heaven. I am 
going to have a little fun in this world and then I am going 
to make sure of heaven before I die. I will make all I 
can out of both worlds. I propose to give loose rein to my 
passions and lusts and have a good time." Now I believe 
that the biggest lie ever uttered in hell is that the devil is 
an easy master and God a hard one. I would like to drive 
that back into perdition; and I testify now that my God is 
not a hard master, and the devil an easy one. I take up 
that old book and I read, "The way of the trangressors is 
hard," and looking around me 1 see that it is hard. Go 



974 u ZXCtrSE &IWT6* 

down to yon prison and ask the prisoner if it is not hard. 
Go with me to the gambler, the drunkard, the forger who 
has lost reputation, and ask them if the way of the trans- 
gressors is not hard. Then go and ask those who have 
been serving God for the last twenty years and see if they 
find the service of God is hard. I have tried both masters, 
and I want to say now my God is not a hard master. 
Take the most faithful follower of the devil in Providence 
for the last five years, and take one who has followed 
Jesus Christ most faithfully and let the two stand on this 
platform and their very faces would tell the story. Look 
at that man, debauched, vile, low; he has had delirium 
tremens, feels snakes at times creeping up around him, and 
say the devil is an easy master. I suppose there are a good 
many men here who have served both masters in the 
last ten years; at some time you changed masters, gave 
up the service of the world and the devil and began 
to serve Christ. I would like to have those men who have 
found God is not a hard master ring out "No" to-night. 
(Shouts of No.) Do you think we are lying? Don't we 
know? Haven't we served the god of this world and 
haven't we served the God of heaven? "My yoke is easy 
and my burden is light." There is a joy in the service of 
Christ that the world knows nothing of, and you never 
will until you taste it. I wish I could describe it. It 
seems to me I could get you to change masters to-night if 
I could. If I could only get you to taste of this sweet 
consciousness that your sins have been put away, not a 
cloud between your soul and God. How many times your 




MR. MOODY'S MOTHER. 



MOOD Y f S LA TEST SEllMONS. 275 

conscience rises up and lashes you. This is something that 
the true child of God knows nothing of. 

There is a man down there in the middle of the hall who 
says that if he is ever converted he won't be converted in a 
meeting like this; too much excitement; if he is really 
honest and he doesn't want to be converted here because 
there is so much interest, I will find him some church that 
doesn't believe in revivals, where everything is cold and 
dead ; if there is too much excitement here go to a grave- 
yard and be converted, there is no excitement there. It is 
only an excuse. If I stood at that door and every one of 
you had to pass out through it and I asked every one of 
you a personal question, why you did not become a Chris- 
tain to-night, I think many of you would give this excuse; 
you would say "Mr. Moody, it is very kind of you to take 
such a personal interest in me, but the fact is I promised 
my wife I would be home to-night at nine o'clock, I will 
see you again." I have had men promising to see me 
again for thirty years. What have you done with all the 
time God has given you for the last 365 days? Some of 
you have spent five years learning a trade. I will venture 
to say I am speaking now to some men who have never 
given five solid minutes to the consideration of their soul's 
salvation. Thank God it doesn't take time, it takes deci- 
sion and I pray God you may make that decision to-night. 

Here is a man at my right in the balcony who says: "I 
am glad Moody is giving it to them to-night. I have bean 
watching some men to-night and I have seen him hit them, 
but he hasn't touched me. I have got a good excuse. 



276 " excuse giving:' 

You know, there is a man who belongs to a chnrch here 
to-night who cheated me ont of forty dollars ten years ago. 
Hypocrites! hypocrites! that is my excuse." Now I want 
to tell yon something — don't forget it — if yon meet a man 
howling about hypocrites, you just look out for him, he 
doesn't live far from one himself. Most people have the 
idea that a man has got to join a chnrch to be a hypocrite; 
my friends, I will find a hundred in the world while you 
find one in the church. I admit they are there; when 
Christ chose his apostles, and I think He was about as 
good a judge of men as ever lived, one proved to be a 
hypocrite, and the wheat and tares will grow together till 
the general harvest. If you carried that out in temporal 
things I would like to know where it would land you. If 
you are a doctor or lawyer or merchant, why don't you get 
up and get out of your profession because there are hypo- 
crites in it? 

When you put a foreign label on your goods made here 
at home, and tell your clerks to tell your customers they 
are imported, and when you sell goods that are half cotton 
for all wool — you are a hypocrite. Suppose there are 
hypocrites in the churches. "What is that to thee, follow 
thou me?" We don't ask you to follow church members, 
but to follow the Son of God, and He was no hypocrite. 
There is another man down thero who says, "My trouble is 
altogether different — I can't believe." Man, put your 
finger on a promise God has z\6 r teafls thstc he hasn't kept. 
It is easier to pull the sun p%* of th£ heavens, than to 
break one of God's promises; rV#i and tLe devil J\a~o b*er 



MOOD Y 'S LA. TEST SERMONS. 277 

trying for the last six thousand years, but they cannot be 
broken. 

A man once said to me, "It is all nonsense that a man 
is going to be affected by just what he believes; how is 
that going to change his course of life?" I said, "If that 
is your difficulty, I can make you believe in about three 
minutes. You say a man is not affected by what he 
believes, that that doesn't change his course of action. 
Suppose a man opens that door and sings out, ' The build- 
ing is on fire.' If you and I believe it, what will we do? 
Go out of that window head first." "Oh," said he, "I 
never thought of that." 

No man can believe that book without purifying his 
soul. That book says no adulterer, no drunkard shall 
inherit the kingdom of God. 

There is nothing unreasonable about that. We are going 
to get up where Adam tumbled down, that is all. 

But here is a man who says, "The trouble with me is, I 
do not feel so solemn to-night as I did last Sunday night, 
there's been altogether too much laughter. I would like 
to become a Christian, but I don't feel like it." 

These men were invited to a feast. Suppose they sent 
back word to the king that they didn't feel like going. 
Now God invites men to a feast and they talk about not 
feeling like going. Man, let your feelings go to the four 
winds. I don't think the prodigal did much feeling till he 
got his feet under his father's mahogany table. He began 
to feel then. The question is, do you want to come? If 
you do, come along. 



278 " EXCUSE GIVING." 

Now I am going to give two excuses that men won't 
give. The first is a lack of moral courage. Men are 
cowards. How many men in this house to-night would 
become Christians if it were not for public sentiment? " If 
I should become a Christian to-night what would they say 
to me down at the store, at the boarding-house, in the 
saloon, where they have been making fun of Moody and 
the meetings?" I tell you what they would say — "Up to 
hear Moody last night, eh? Did Moody catch you? did 
you get converted? did you get pious? did you get reli- 
gion?" and you would say, " No, sir, I don't believe in him — 
big humbug, I wasn't there." Let men act up to their 
convictions and we would show you a meeting. The ques- 
tion is, is it right to serve God? If it is, take your stand 
and let the devil howl and let his agents talk and sneer as 
much as they have a mind to. I pity in my heart a man 
who may be laughed out of a principle, a man who will let 
a saloon keeper or a gambler or a harlot keep him from 
what is right. God have mercy on such a man. 

The next excuse that a man won't give is some darling, 
besetting sin — you know, it comes right up before you now. 
If you become a Christian you have got to give up that 
sin — it may be the harlot, it may be to make restitution of 
some money you have taken from your employer, it may 
be you have got to treat your wife and family better. Oh, 
man, may God give you courage to-night to give up that 
sin. It is no fiction, my friend, it is a real invitation. 
Life is very sweet to me, I can conceive of no sweeter work 
than that I am engaged in. I have liberty and freedom. 



MOOD Y '8 LA TEST SERMONS. 279 

God has given me a lovely family, but clear as my family, 

sweet as my work is to me, I would rather have some man 
leap up on this platform and hurl me into another world 
and just sit down in the Kingdom than to have the wealth 
of the world rolled at my feet and miss that appointment. 
"Blessed is he that shall he at the marriage supper of the 
Lamb." If your excuse will not stand the light of eternity 
throw it to the four winds. But, you say, you don't like 
to be in a hurry about a thing like this, you must consider. 
Man, let me ask, have you not considered it? Was this 
question sprung on you to-night for the first time? These 
three men were invited and were expected to give an 
answer. Christ said, " Xone of those that were bidden shall 
taste of my supper." God will take you at your word and 
will excuse you, and if God does excuse you you will be 
gone for time and eternity. Think of the blessed company 
that will be there. Suppose we were going to write out 
the excuse to-night: 

To the King of Kings, to the Lord of Glory: 

I received a pressing invitation from one of your minis- 
ters to be present at the marriage supper of your only 
begotten Son; I pray thee to have me excused. 

Who would sign that? I don't believe that there is a man 
in this house that could be hired to do it. It is a solemn 
thing to look into this house to-night and see so many 
young men here between twenty and thirty years of age, 
so many streams going to flow out from this meeting, but 
I tell you what is a more solemn thing, to think that inside 
of fifteen minutes many a man that is almost holding his 



280 " excuse giving: 9 

breath now, listening to things that pertaiD to his eternal 
destiny will be in the street, some cracking jokes about the 
preaching and turning the whole thing into a jest. I beg 
of you to-night, do not make light of this invitation. I 
can imagine some of you saying: "My father and mother 
were godly people, they are in glory now; I may be pretty 
wild, but I never got so wild as to make light of religious 
things." You do make light of it if you go out without 
answering this invitation. 

Let us see if we can all sign this: 

To the King of Kings, to the Lord of Glory: 

While sitting in a religious meeting, I received a press- 
ing invitation from one of your servants to be present at 
the marriage supper of your only begotten Son. I hasten 
to reply: By the grace of God I will be there. 

Who will sign that? who has the courage to speak out and 
say "I will." It may be a sainted mother is watching and 
listening to see if her boy is coming. Let the answer go up 
to that sainted mother, " Mother, I am coming." Oh, man, 
you can make joy in heaven now if you say "I will." If 
you confess Christ before men He will confess you before 
the Father and the holy angels. 



MOOD T 'S LA TEST SERMONS. 281 



THE WORK OF THE SHEPHEED. 

I want to call your attention to the work of the Shep- 
herd. The work of a shepherd is to feed and to care for his 
flock. Some one asked a young convert how he knew Christ 
was divine. He says, "Because He has saved me and 
because He keeps me." A pretty good proof, it seems to 
me. I see a person in the house that is troubled about the 
divinity of Jesus Christ. I was once talking with an 
atheist in my town, and I got him to read the New Testa- 
ment. He came back in a few days and said: "Mr. 
Moody, I have taken your advice and read the life of Jesus 
Christ, and I have come to the conclusion that John the 
Baptist was a greater character than Jesus Christ. Why 
don't you preach John the Baptist?" "Well," I said, 
"you go through the country and preach in the name of 
John the Baptist, and I will follow and preach in the name 
of Jesus Christ, and I venture to say that I will have more 
followers than you." "Oh, well," he said, "of course you 
would, because people are very superstitious." "No, when 
they buried John the Baptist they buried him and he 
hasn't got up yet. But when they buried the Son of God 
they couldn't hold Him. He rose again. We don't wor- 
ship a dead Christ; He is a glorified Christ." If Christ 
hadn't risen do you believe this audience would b6 hera 



282 THE WORK OF THE SEEP HERD. 

this afternoon? Never! gathered around a dead Jew, who 
was buried in the sepulcher at Jerusalem! Do you believe 
His name would give power and quicken? 

Now, I want to get your attention. Let's come to the 
work of the Shepherd. In the thirty-fourth chapter of 
Ezekiel there are two things that he tells us the Shepherd 
will do. I haven't got time to take them all up, but will 
just read a few things that the Shepherd has promised to 
do. Thirty-fourth chapter of Ezekiel, eleventh verse. 

Now, of course I have only just time to touch upon the 
things he says he will do. "I will seek them out." Christ 
when He came said He had come to seek and save that 
which was lost. That is His work. It is the work of the 
shepherd to seek the lost. Who ever heard of a sheep seek- 
ing out a lost shepherd? A great many people say they 
cannot find Christ. He is seeking you out to find you. 
And not only does He find you, but He keeps you. That 
is what He came from heaven to do, to seek and save the 
lost. 

I remember when we were in London, they found one 
old woman who was eighty-five years old and not a Chris- 
tian. After the worker had prayed, she made a prayer 
herself: "Oh, Lord, I thank Thee for going out of Thy 
way to find me." He is all the time going out of His way 
to find the lost. At one time He went way up to the coast 
of Tyre. There was a poor woman groping in the dark- 
ness and the Shepherd went and found her. "I will feed 
them in a good pasture." Now I tell you He has a good 
many lean sheep, but some old divine says He has none in 



MOODY'S LA TEST SERMONS. 283 

His pasture, they have got out. If they will go into for- 
bidden places they will get lean. You get your leanness 
by going after the world and worldly things. But He 
"feeds them in a good pasture." 

"I will deliver them." That is His work. Now, He 
not only saved the children of Israel, but He delivered 
them. He not only saves us, but He delivers us. I thank 
Jesus Christ that He is a deliverer. I don't believe He 
saves us and then leaves us in prison. "I will deliver 
them." 

"I will gather them from the people." Separate them. 
That is what we want, separation. And if we are going 
to have real Holy Ghost power here, we must be separated. 
There must be a separation. That is when God's people 
have power, not when they are in sympathy with the 
ungodly. Eemember, we are His witnesses. We want to 
keep that in mind. A friend of mine was walking up the 
streets of Philadelphia some years ago and he saw a church 
member in a saloon playing cards. He took a card from 
his pocket and wrote upon it, "Ye are my witnesses." He 
called a little boy to him and said, "You see that man 
sitting at the end of that table playing cards?" "Yes." 
"Well, just take that card to him and I will give you five 
cents." He gave him a nickel, the boy slipped in, and he 
slipped over to the other side of the street. The man 
read, "Ye are my witnesses." He sprung up and said, 
"Hello, my boy, who gave you that?" "Don't know." 
The man had gotten away. Yes, we are His witnesses, 
and we don't want to be found in a place like that. 



284 THE WORK OF THE SHEPHERD. 

"I will bring them to their land." That is what He 
wants, to bring them out of the world to his own land. 

"X will bind up that which was broken." Yes, every 
broken heart, every bleeding heart He will bind up. That 
is what God sent Him into the world to do. There is not 
a broken, bleeding heart here to-day but that Christ can 
heal it. 

"I will strengthen." People say that they haven't any 
strength. That is all right. We don't want any of our 
own strength, we want His strength. He has plenty of 
strength, and all that you need. The weaker we are the 
better for us, for then we lay hold of God's strength. He 
will put strength into every one of His sheep if they will 
let Him. 

"I will save my flock." I want to tell you, my dear 
friends, if your religion isn't saving you from sin and keep- 
ing you day by clay from it, it is a sham, it is not the reli- 
gion of Jesus Christ. " His name shall be called Jesus, 
because He shall save His people from their sins." He 
comes to us in our sins, but saves us from our sins. That 
is the only test that is worth having; that Christ is saving 
you from sin. 

"I will set up one Shepherd over them." You may 
have your different churches, but we have only one Christ 
after all. Do you know that? All these miserable sec- 
tarian WcJls have been built up by men. The Catholics 
have the same Christ as the Protestants — one Shepherd, 
one Christ. The quicker we recognize that fact the better. 
We must get nearer and nearer together if we are going 



MOOD Y 'S LA TEST SERMONS. 285 

to have power. If we are going to get nearer the Shepherd 
we have got to get nearer together. 

"I will make them a covenant of peace." He brought 
peace. People are trying to make it. He made it by the 
blood of the cross, and all we have got to do is enter into it. 

" I will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land." When 
a man is at peace with God, he is at peace with every one. 
He can have a beautiful, peaceful, joyful Christian life if 
he will only walk with God. That is what we want, is 
just to have this victorious life. 

"I will cause the showers to come down." That is just 
what we want here. Isn't it? If you want the real fruit, 
just pray. He is able and willing and anxious to do it, 
and it will bring great honor and glory to His Son if the 
tide comes in here and a wave goes out from this city that 
will go away across this continent. Why not? Let us 
expect great things and we shall not be disappointed. 

"I will raise them up a plant of renown." Thank God 
He has been raised up. Christ has come since that was 
prophesied. 

"I will satisfy them." I want to say that there is only 
one thing that will satisfy a longing heart, and that is 
Jesus Christ. The world will not satisfy. A proof of 
that is that the man who has the most of this world's goods 
gets the least out of it. Isn't it so? You never saw a 
millionaire in your life that was satisfied. When he gets 
one million he wants three; and when he gets three, he 
wants ten, and so on. Why, I remember myself when a 
millionaire was considered quite a rich man; but he is 



286 TBE WORK OF THE SBEPBERD. 

nothing now. He must have a hundred million. I pity 
him, don't you? I do. I just pity them because they are 
not satisfied. The fact is when God made your heart and 
mine he made them a little too big for this world. That 
is just what Christ undertakes to do, to satisfy. You 
know sheep never lie down until they get enough to eat 
and drink. And so it says, "I will make them rest." He 
will just satisfy them so that they rest. That is just what 
Ave want. We want rest for ourselves before we can work 
for others. If we are restless and agitated and don't get 
rest for our own soul, we are the last ones to help any one 
else. He instructed us and kept us as the apple of His 
eye. He keeps. Wonderful Shepherd. He is able to 
keep every one of His sheep. People are always talking 
about not being able to keep Christ. Man, let Christ keep 
you. I remember when my little girl was about four years 
old she was always teasing for one of those black and white 
muffs, and she kept on teasing and teasing, and one day 
her mother brought her home a black and white muff. 
She came to my room and said, "Come, papa, let's go and 
take a walk." I was very busy and said I could not go. 
But you know when you have an only daughter she can do 
about as she wants to with you. She knew she would get 
me. And we went out. It was icy, and I said, "Emma, 
you had better let me take your hand." But she wouldn't 
let me, and she strutted down the street. She wanted to 
walk as her mother did and show off her new muff. AVe 
went along and finally she fell and hurt herself a little. I 
said, "Now, Emma, you better let me take your hand." 



MOOD T'S LA TEST SERMONS. 287 

"No, no," she wouldn't. Very independent! But by 
and by down she went again, and she said, "Papa, I wish 
you would let me take your little finger." "You better 
let me take your hand." But she wouldn't, she only 
wanted my little finger. So I gave her my little finger. 
Down she went again, and she hurt her that time. " Papa, 
just take my hand, please." I put my big hand around her 
little wrist, and when her feet went from under her again 
she didn't go down. That is the way the Shepherd does, 
He keeps. Give the whole thing up; your trying does not 
amount to anything. Trust Him to hold and keep you. 
The Shepherd will keep all that commit themselves to 
Him. Just say, " Lord, I cannot stand without your help. 
The temptations are so numerous that I cannot help my- 
self, but I have put my hand into the hand of the Eternal 
God and I believe He will hold me." Thank God for the 
promise that He will keep us. Let that sink down into 
your soul. He will keep all who commit themselves to 
Him. Just trust Him now to keep you. Eemember that 
it is His work to keep you, and if you go astray it is His 
work to bring you back. The Shepherd goes and gets the 
sheep and puts it on His shoulder and brings it back. That 
man who had the hundred sheep didn't say he would let 
the sheep find its way back. He went out to find it. He 
went out and searched until he found it, and when he 
found it he didn't beat nor maul nor kick it, but just 
kindly put it on his shoulder and carried it home. There 
w^s a young minister I heard about some time ago, who 
went to take charge of a church that had been under the 



288 THE WORK OF THE SHEPHERD. 

care of an old pastor; and he went to scolding the people, 
and he kept that up for six months. One day one of the 
old deacons asked him home to dinner with him. After 
dinner the old deacon asked him if he had read the twenty- 
first chapter of John. "Read it! I hope I have read 
every chapter in the Bible. Read it! Why, of course I 
have." So the old deacon got his Bible and began to read 
it. He got down to where the Lord is sifting Peter and 
testing him. " Peter, lovest thou Me more than these? 
Beat my sheep." " Peter, lovest thou Me more than these? 
Maul my sheep." "Lovest thou Me more than these? 
Wallop my sheep." "Why," said the minister to the 
deacon, "that isn't there." "Well, I thought I would 
read it to you as you have been at us for the last six months 
and see how it sounded." You never made a sheep fat in 
that way. Feed them well if you want them to work and 
grow fat. I tell you I honestly believe we have too much 
preaching in the exhorting line. Exhort ! Exhort ! Exhort ! 
I believe that the church needs to be fed; and where there 
is one sermon preached to the unconverted, I wish we had 
one hundred preached to the church members. They 
watch the church members and say, " Look at that man 
and woman, they are members of the church. If that is 
religion, I don't want any of it." And I don't blame 
them. Do you? Now, what we want is to keep that in 
mind. Feed them. That is what the Good Shepherd will 
do. Why! a man said he would take a fat sheep and make 
it lean in a week. There was a bet on that statement, and 
they put up the money. They took a sheep and put it in 



MOOD Y >S LA. TEST SERMONS. 289 

a cage, and then they went and got a dog. That dog kept 
barking at the sheep and worried it so that it was quite 
poor in a week. There are lots of sheep that are scared. 
"And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never 
perish, neither shall any one pluck them out of my hand." 
Never. Twenty-eight times in this chapter He uses the 
pronoun to tell what He will do for His sheep. Some old 
divine has said that all of God's sheep have three marks. 
You know in California and some of those places where 
they have a great many sheep they have their mark and 
register them, just as some business men register their trade 
mark. First, they hear, second, they know his voice, and 
third, they follow. That is the way you can tell a true 
sheep. They know God's voice and they don't try to 
follow, but they do follow. You can tell a sheep from a 
goat in that way. Tenth chapter of John, third verse. 
Now, if you want life to your soul just listen to the word 
of God, let the word of God sink down into your soul. 

"Verily, verily, I say unto you -" put your name in 

there. " He that heareth my word and believeth on him 
that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into 
condemnation but has passed from death unto life." You 
can come into the open fold through that door this very 
hour if you will. There is not an unsaved one here who 
may not enter the fold of God now if he will. 

They know His voice. A great many people cannot tell 
the voice of God from the voice of a false shepherd. There 
was a friend of mine at Mt. Vernon some time ago, and 
two shepherds came down to the water, and he said he 



290 THE WORK OF THE SHEPHERD. i 

thought there were fully ten thousand sheep. T/iese 
shepherds were talking, and he wondered how they were 
going to get their sheep separated. One shepherd got up 
and put on his turban, and then he spoke to the sheep and 
they knew his voice. All his sheep followed him. He 
didn't drive them. The other one called his sheep and 
they followed him. This friend of mine said to the shep- 
herd, "Do all these sheep know you? Does every one of 
your sheep know you?" "Why, yes." " Can't you deceive 
them?" And the old shepherd laughed at the idea; he 
thought it was too absurd for anything. And my friend 
said, "Now, just let me try it. Let me have your frock 
and turban and you go behind a tree." He called out just 
as the shepherd had told him, "Mena, Mena." The sheep 
scattered in all directions. They knew it was a strange 
voice. Then he said to the shepherd, "Won't they follow 
a stranger?" "Well," he said, "a sick sheep will follow 
a stranger, but not a healthy one." (Why, you see the 
point, don't you?) Have you any unhealthy sheep around 
here? I tell you the true sheep know a true shepherd. 
I got up in Scotland once and quoted a passage of Scripture 
a little different from what it was in the Bible, and an old 

woman crept up and said, "Mr. Moody, you said " 

I might make forty misquotations here and no one would 
tell me about them. Like two lawyers, one said in court 
that the other didn't know the Lord's prayer. The other 
said he did. "Now I lay me down to sleep." "Well," he 
said, "I give it up. You do know it." Didn't either one 
of them know it, you see. 



MOOD 7 'S LA TEST SERMONS. 291 

Now, they do follow. Mark ye. They don't try to 
follow, 1 wish we could abolish that word "try." I really 
believe I have had more than twenty-five people here tell 
me they were "going to try real hard to be Christians." 
My friends, that does not amount to anything. That is a 
very slippery rock to get on. Try, try, try. I have heard 
persons say, " You know the Bible says try, try, try again." 
They thought that was in the Bible. You cannot find a 
place in the Bible where you are told to try. Just follow 
Him. Let that word "try" be banished, and put in the 
word "trust." God will always help a man or a woman 
that wants to follow His Son. Now, people are looking 
after happiness, peace and joy, after the fruits of the spirit. 
My dear friends, you get done looking after these things 
and look to Christ, and you will have them. You don't 
have to look for these things. I don't know but I have 
used this illustration before, about trying to catch your 
shadow. I remember when I was a boy I used to try to 
jump over the shadow of my head, but I never succeeded 
in getting over it. Then I would try to outrun it, but I 
never could. I remember coming down the mountain side 
one night and a boy was trying to catch me. I looked 
around and saw my shadow running after me. Well, the 
sweetest lesson I have learned since I have been in Christ's 
school is just to face the great Shepherd and the shadow 
follows. Look for Christ and you will not be in the dark. 
Now if there is a man or woman here that is in the dark 
to-day, I will tell you why. It is because you have got 
away from the Shepherd, because you are afraid of Him. 



292 THE WORK OF THE SHEPHERD. 

Just get near the Shepherd if you want food, light, peace 
and joy. Don't try to follow, but just follow. When you 
were a boy and went to school it wasn't a matter of feeling, 
but obedience. What you want is will. The thing we 
are told to do is just to follow, and if we do we are not 
going to be allowed to walk in the dark. Tenth chapter 
of John, third verse, "He calleth them by name." I get a 
good deal of comfort out of that fact — that the Shepherd 
knows me by my name. Why ! He, Saul of Tarsus, knew 
all about him. He knew little of Samuel. See ! The Shep- 
herd knows us by name. A friend of mine was in Syria, 
and he found a shepherd that kept up the old custom of 
naming his sheep. This friend of mine said he wouldn't 
believe that the sheep knew him when he called them by 
name. So he asked the shepherd if the sheep were all 
named and if they all knew their names. "I wish you 
would just call one or two." The shepherd said, "Carl." 
The sheep stopped eating and looked up. The shepherd 
called out " Come here. " The sheep came and stood looking 
up into his face. He called another and another, he called 
about a dozen sheep and there they stood looking up at the 
shepherd. "How can you tell them apart?" "Oh, there 
are no two alike. See, that sheep toes in a little; this 
sheep is a little bit squint-eyed; that sheep has a black spot 
on its nose." My friend found that he knew every one of his 
sheep by their failings. He didn't have a perfect one in 
his flock. I suppose that is the way the Lord knows you 
and me. There is a man that is covetous; he wants to 
grasp the whole world. He wants a shepherd to keep 



HOOD Y >S LA TEST SERMONS. 2 9 3 

down that 3pirit. There is a woman down there who has 
an awful tongne; she keeps the whole neighborhood stirred 
up. There is a woman over there who is deceitful, terribly 
so. She needs the care of a shepherd to keep her frtfm 
deceit, for she will ruin all her children. They will all 
turn out just like their mother. There is a father over 
there who wouldn't swear for all the world before his chil- 
dren, but sometimes he gets provoked in his business and 
swears before he knows it. Doesn't he need a shepherd's 
care? I would like to know if there is a man or woman 
here who doesn't need the care of a shepherd. Haven't 
we all got failings? If you really want to know what your 
failings are, you can find some one who can point them out. 
God would never have sent Christ into the world if we 
didn't need His care. We are as weak and foolish as sheep. 
I wish 1 had time to dwell on the tenderness of the 
Shepherd. I find that Satan takes the advantage of some 
people in this way. A child dies, is taken from a home, 
and Satan says, "Ministers tell about the tenderness and 
kindness and love of the Shepherd, don't you see how He 
has wounded you?" My dear friend, don't let Satan get 
the best of you. A friend of mine in New York (I was 
going to say the best man I ever knew), sat right by me 
and worked as no other minister did. He had four beauti- 
ful children, and scarlet fever just came in and swept them 
all away. The poor man tried to get comfort. He 
couldn't find it, and he went off to Europe, traveled all 
through Great Britain, couldn't get rest, and finally went 
off to Syria. One day he and his wife went down to the 



294 ?&& WORK OF TSE SHEPHhflD. 

stream ; they saw a shepherd come down Tvith a flock of 
sheep. The shepherd went into the stream and called thr 
sheep after him. They looked down at him very wistfully 
but couldn't follow because they had little laiabs. 

Finally the shepherd came out. of the #&ter and picked 
up a little lamb and put it into his bos<nn. The two old 
sheep that had lost their little ones, instead of looking at 
the water in fear began to look up to the shepherd and 
bleat. They followed him close into t]*e stream because 
their loved ones were there. 

By and by he got them all over into a greener pasture, 
into a better place, and when he got them safely over, he 
took the little lambs out of his bosom. The father and 
mother stood there and watched, and they said, "That is 
what the great Palestine Shepherd has done with our little 
ones." 

He has taken them across the stream into greener pas- 
ture, home to a better place. 

They are back in New York at work for other children. 
My friends, don't let Satan get the advantage of you. A 
titled lady was telling me some time ago when I was in Eng- 
land that one day she was out riding and she saw a shepherd 
who had some dogs driving sheep. If the sheep stopped 
to drink out of the pools in the streets he would have the 
dogs after them. She kept saying, "Oh, you cruel man!" 
But by and by he came to a beautiful park, opened the 
great iron gate and let all the sheep in there where the grass 
was knee high, beautiful, sweet, fresh grass, and a beauti- 
ful river running right through the park; and she said ha 



MOOD Y'S LA TEST SEtiMONS. 205 

wasn't so crnel after all. He was only trying to get them 
to a better place. My dear friends, our loved ones are 
passing away, but they are going to a better field. There 
is a passage here I would just like to read to you. Hebrews 
xii, 5: "And ye have forgotten the exhortation which 
speaketh unto you as unto children, my son, despise not 
thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art 
rebuked of Him, for whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, 
and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth." 



296 THE CENTURION AT CAPEBNA UM. 



THE CENTUEION AT CAPEENAUM. 

I want to call your attention to the centurion that we 
have just read about at Capernaum. He is one of those 
nameless characters that shine very brightly upon the stage 
of history. For some reason the Holy Ghost hasn't given 
us his name. There are quite a number of nameless char- 
acters that have shone very brightly in this world in the 
Scripture. A good many of us would like to know who 
that woman at the well was; she is one of those characters 
we would like to meet when we get to heaven. We would 
like to know the name of that woman whom he met 
way up on the coast of Tyre; that blind beggar that takes 
up more room than any other character in the Bible, just 
because he had courage to speak out his convictions and 
stand boldly for Christ; that little maid that told Naaman, 
or the wife of Naaman, about the Prophet Elisha and set 
two kingdoms in commotion. Her name has not been 
given us. And here is another character, this centurion, 
who shines very brightly, a light in the dark places. I tell 
you, the brightest and purest pearls come from the 
darkest caverns of the ocean. And here is a pure gem, a 
diamond shining in that little town. Such a man as this 
centurion, not only in Capernaum but in the Koman army. 



MOO I) Y '£ LA TEST SERMONS. 297 

Now, if there was a class of people that the Jews despised, 
it was the Gentiles, and the one Gentile nation they 
detested the most was the Eomans, unless it should be the 
Samaritans. Yet this man had lived so in Capernaum 
that he had won their favor and esteem, he had commanded 
the respect, not only of his own soldiers, but of those Jews 
that would naturally have hated him. He went to Christ 
and wanted Christ to heal his servant because he loved the 
nation. They thought because he had built them a syna- 
gogue that he was one of the grandest of men, and it looks 
as if God left all His work to go and heal this centurion 
because he was worthy. Perhaps they said, "The very 
synagogue I occupied last Sunday was built by this cen- 
turion. Now, come, because he is worthy." Didn't do it 
on the ground of grace, they did it on the ground of his 
worthiness. Now, if you will just follow the whole scene 
you will find that Christ wanted to teach another lesson. 
I remember being in Scotland a few years ago, and on my 
way to the church a friend said, "I hope you will not bear 
very hard on whisky. The steeple on the church where 
you are going to preach was built by a distiller, and it 
would hurt his feelings if you should say anything about 
whisky." That was just the way to keep me from saying 
anything about it, you know. I had to give my opinion 
about steeples that were built with whisky money. There 
are a good many who have an idea that distilling is all 
right if they will only give their money to the church. 
That will cover a multitude of evil and make it all right 
These Jews thought this centurion was all right because 



298 THE CENTURION AT CAPERNAUM. 

he had built them a synagogue. Now, a man may build a 
synagogue and still be a black-hearted villain. But not so 
with this centurion; I don't think it was because he had 
built a synagogue that his name shines so bright in history. 
I will tell you what I think. He wanted Christ to come 
and heal his servant, and I suppose that servant was a slave. 
A different set of people we have now! Most of us, if we 
have a servant and he gets sick, we just get him home as 
quickly as possible, or to some hospital. Perhaps we get 
a free bed if we can. We get him off our hands because 
we don't want to be bothered with a sick servant. We 
have paid them their wages, and we think that is the 
end of our responsibility. Not so with the centurion. It 
wasn't his son, nor his daughter, nor his wife, nor mother. 
It wasn't some member of his family, not any one that was 
bound to him by the tie of nature, but a servant, and he 
was very dear to him. Ah, my dear friends, there is a 
lesson. I don't believe this nation has ever seen a better 
day to show our friendship toward those who are down. 
The gulf has been becoming deeper and darker for twenty 
years, and now we have a good opportunity to bridge the 
gulf. Let us follow in the footsteps of that good Samari- 
tan. Let the millionaires look very carefully now after the 
men who have been piling up their wealth for them. Fol- 
low the footsteps of this good Samaritan, and see what will 
come out of it. He won the esteem of every servant he 
had. Do you tell me that if that servant was very dear to 
him, the centurion was not dear to the servant? I was in 
California some time ago, and quite a number tried to tell 



MOOD T *S LA TEST SEBMOttS. 299 

me that the Chinaman hadn't a soul, and that a Chinaman 
wasn't capable of loving. I said: "It is utterly false. 
There is not a son or daughter of Adam on earth that isn't 
capable of loving." Before I left California they told me 
of a man who got a Chinaman just as he came to this 
country, and took him into his family and treated him 
kindly, and by and by the Chinaman became his body serv- 
ant. At last misfortune overtook his master. He died 
and left his widow without any means of support. The 
poor Chinaman had worked hard and long, day and night, 
to get back to China. Every company that brings a 
Chinaman to this country has to sign a contract that they 
will bring him back dead or alive. Sometimes they scrape 
the flesh off the bones and send them back to be buried in 
their own country. This man had been working and toil- 
ing hard to get money to go back, but when he found that 
his master had left his mistress without money, he took 
the thousand dollars and insisted upon her taking it. And 
yet they say a Chinaman cannot love! My dear friends, 
you cannot expect anything better from the world, but 
when you find those who profess to be Christians, what is 
going to become of the cause of Jesus in the world? I 
wonder if you are looking after those who serve you. Are 
any of them unfortunate just now, are they in need? 
Your soup houses may be all right, but I wouldn't like to 
have a servant of mine go to a soup house. Would you? 
I wouldn't like to have a man who is toiling for me degrade 
himself by going to a house to beg for soup. 

My friend, Professor Drummond, went off into the heart 



300 TEE CENTURION AT CAPERNA UM. 

of Africa, and when he returned he told me he believed 
the Africans, as a nation, were not capable of loving; he 
believed they understood a knock over the head better than 
kindness. I believe that is utterly false, and I believe if 
we walk on that line, we are never going to reach this 
world. There was a lady in New York who was brought 
tip in the South, and she told me that when the war came 
on a man went into the army and left his wife with two 
daughters, and an old colored woman that had been a slave 
all of her life had two daughters. The man was killed in 
the army and a good deal of his property was swept away. 
When the old colored woman heard about it she refused to 
take her liberty because her mistress had nothing. The 
mistress soon after died, and then the poor old colored 
woman took care of the two daughters. When the old 
colored woman was dying, she called her daughters to her 
and said, "I want you to take good care of those two 
daughters. They have never been taught to take care of 
themselves, the mistress is gone, and now I am going too. 
When I am dead and gone I want you to be careful to see 
that they don't come to want." Those two colored 
daughters cared for those two white sisters, and when they 
got so reduced that they could not get a living they went 
out and got ten dollars. They wanted to give five of it to 
those white girls. The lady said, " I won't send it to them. 
You can if you want to." And one of the colored girls 
said, "Why, they wouldn't take it from a nigger. I don't 
want to disgrace them by asking them to take it from me." 
She insisted upon the lady sending it to help those two 



MOOD Y } S LA TEST SERMONS. 301 

white girls. Now, I say those colored girls belonged to the 
nobility of heaven. You don't want to look down upon 
those people. I have great admiration for that centurion 
who thought a good deal of his servant, and I tell you that 
kind of thing will kill out anarchy, kill out nihilism, sweep 
them from the face of the earth. No, it is one thing to 
come out here and say "amen," and another thing to carry 
it out in your home. You just want to watch that you 
don't get into the place of some Pharisee. You treat men 
us they should be treated, and see if you don't win their 
esteem and respect. I was once reading in history about 
a heathen king. He received a mortal wound and sent for 
his faithful body servant. When the servant came the 
soldier said, "Go tell the dead I am coming." And the 
servant pressed his knife through his heart that he might 
go and tell the dead his master was coming after him. 

As 1 said before, now is our day. The workingmen are 
seeing hard times, and if there w 7 as ever a time for the 
church of God to show kindness, it is at present — if we 
haven't lost them, for they are far from the church to-day; 
they have been taught to believe that the church doesn't 
care for them. The great mass of the workingmen of 
this country have been alienated from the church of God. 

Now is the time to look well after your servants, your 
clerks and those whom you employ, and see if you cannot 
help them now they are down. A little act of kindness 
will go a great deal farther than the sermons just now. 
We want good Samaritans just now to go and pick up 
those men who have been slain, as it were, by this financial 



302 THE CENTURION AT CAPERNA UM. 

panic that is sweeping over the land. Did the world ever 
see such a day? Take up your morning paper. About a 
million dollars in the banks of New York, and it is a drug 
at one per cent. Yet men are starving for the want of 
work. Starving? May God deliver us. It would be a 
good thing for us to get on our backs so that we can just 
look up to heaven. A man said to me the other night 
when I was talking on this subject, " Your old gospel won't 
put bread into the mouths of the people." My friends, 
don't you believe it. That is just what will. You want 
to remove the cause of this trouble and I believe the gospel 
of the Son of God is the only thing that will do it. If 
men will stop drinking whisky, it will buy bread for their 
children, won't it? If they will stop their gambling, don't 
you think it will put some money into bread and the family 
will have something to eat? If they will stop this cursed 
adultery, don't you think the wives and children will be 
looked after? This man was a leper. How many of your 
servants have a disease a thousand times worse than the 
leprosy. A kind act may turn them into the kingdom of 
God, and it would be a grand day if we could see a revival 
of righteousness going over this land as it did in '57. 
Then there was a sweep of salvation that went sweeping 
'way across the continent and brought five hundred thou- 
sand into the church of God. And so out of this financial 
crash that is upon us, and out of this great panic, let every 
business man and every woman that has servants look well 
now and see if you cannot win them. Don't send them 
off to any charitable institution, but just take care of them 



MOOD Y 9 8 LA TEST SERMONS. 303 

yourselves. Don't go and blow a trumpet and say that 
you have done so much for your servants; but do it kindly 
and quietly. I don't suppose this centurion ever thought 
of what he had done for his servants. He wanted his 
servant healed, and so he sent these men, these Jews, for 
Christ to heal them. There is a double staff. That man 
was full of faith and full of humility. If you want to be 
successful in working for God, that is just the thing. It 
isn't often that the two meet in one man. Did you know 
it? But this man had exalted thoughts of God and very 
low thoughts of himself. Now, I want to call your atten- 
tion to a fact. If you find a man that has very high 
thoughts of himself he will have very low thoughts of God. 
I met a man in the inquiry room the other night who 
thought he was the very best man in town, and he thought 
God was the most insignificant being that there ever was. 
This centurion was little in his own sight, he was insignifi- 
cant. He was centurion in the Roman army, but this man 
never thought of himself. He thought that the Jews 
were better than he, so he sent them to get Christ to come 
and heal the servant. Thank God for humility and faith ! 
His faith was as bold as a lion, his humility as meek as a 
dove, as meek as a lamb, and he had power. And he 
shines on and on, and has been shining for eighteen hun- 
dred years. He is going to shine on forever more. Why? 
Because he wasn't low and mean and selfish. Now, I have 
heard all kinds of men and women praised, but there is 
one character that yon never heard praised. Can you 
think of the man or woman who is never praised? Do you 



304 THE CENTURION A T CAPERNA UM. 

know who it is? It is a supremely selfish man or woman. 
Take A. T. Stewart for instance. Did you ever hear of 
any one praising him? One of his clerks got sick and 
couldn't come to the store for two, or three, or ten weeks; his 
wages were cut right off; he wasn't responsible. Who is 
my brother? "Am I my brother's keeper?" He didn't 
feel any responsibility for any man that helped him make 
his great fortune. Why! I was in New York when he 
was dying, and there was a sort of a jubilee all over the 
city. They were glad the old miser was going. They 
were telling stories right there in his marble palace. His 
wife might have mourned, but if she did she was about the 
only mourner he had. What a glorious opportunity he 
had to become immortal and live forever! I pity these 
men that hold on with a tight grip to everything they 
have. I heard of a man once that was always telling his 
servant that he was going to do a great thing for him, "I 
am going to remember you in my will." Sambo got his 
expectations up very high. When the man came to die it 
was found that all he had willed Sambo was to be buried 
in the family lot. That was the big thing, you know. 
Sambo said, he wished he had given him ten dollars and 
let the lot go. If you want to show kindness to a person, 
show it to them while you are living. 1 heard a man say 
that he didn't want people to throw bouquets to him 
after he was dead and say, "There, smell them." Now 
this is the time for action. This man acted. He was 
going to try to save the life of that servant. That is what 
we want to do, I have got so tired and sick of this split- 



MOOD Y'S LA TKST SERMONS. 305 

ting hairs over theology and men talking about higher 
criticism. Man, let us go out and get these fallen men up. 
Lift them up toward God and heaven. We want a practi- 
cal kind of Christianity. I was in England some time ago 
and they had a great corps of bishops and the highest 
ecclesiastical men haying a discussion which lasted for 
days to see whether they should wear a black or 
white gown. Man, throw aside your gown and give 
them the gospel. That is what they want. This man's 
servant was dying and he went to work to save him. You 
have servants that are dying without God and without 
hope. Don't think because they work for you eight or ten 
hours a day that your responsibility ends there. I believe 
God will hold you responsible. You business men can 
reach those men who are employed by you a good deal 
better than the ministers. As I said the other day, we are 
living in altogether different days from what our fathers 
did. 

Those old day have gone now. We treat our serv- 
ants just about as we do a sewing machine. If they do 
their work w r ell all right ; but if they don't we kick them out. 
They may go to ruin, become defaulters, and bring a stain 
upon the whole family, and it is nothing to you. It is a 
good deal to you. That centurion looked after his servant. 
Look after your servants. See that they don't work seven 
days in the week. Don't make a man do what you don't 
want to do yourself. 

But my time is up. I would just like to have you take 
this centurion into your heart and see if you are like him. 



306 THE CENTURION AT CAPEBNA VM. 

Perhaps you have built a synagogue. You may stand well 
abroad, but how do you stand at home? Do you stand well 
there? This man stood well with his servants, he stood 
well abroad; just because he was a real true man, although 
he was a Gentile and a Roman. 




1/ 




THE SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, EAST NORTHFIELD, WHERE 
THE FUNERAL SERVICES WERE HELD. 



MOOD T *S LA TEST SELIM0N3 307 



OUR YICTOEY OVER THE WORLD. 

I waxt to talk to-day about the overcoming life. When 
a battle is fought we are all anxious to know who the vic- 
tors are. In the first Epistle of John, fifth chapter, fourth 
verse, we read, "For whosoever is born of God overcometh 
the world." That is our starting point. If we are going 
to get victory over the world we have got to get it through 
Christ. I wouldn't think of talking to unconverted men 
about overcoming the world, for it is utterly impossible. 
They might as well try to cut down the American forests 
with their penknives. I want to say to Christian people 
that I think a good many of us make this mistake, we 
think the ba f tle is already fought, the victory already won. 
They have an idea that all they have to do is to put the oars 
down in the bottom of the boat and the current will drift 
them into the ocean of God's eternal love, but we have 
got to cross the current. We have got to learn how to 
watch and fight and how to overcome. I think a great 
many Christian people make this mistake; they think the 
battle is already fought. It is only just commenced. The 
Christian life is a conflict and a warfare, and the quicker 
we find it out the better. Don't let any man think he is 
going to overcome his enemies without putting forth his 
strength with God's power. There is not a blessing in this 



308 OUR VICTORY OVER THE WORLD. 

world that God has not linked Himself to. All these 
great and higher blessings God associates Himself with. 
When God and man work together then it is that there is 
going to be victory. We are co-workers with Him. You 
might take a mill and put it forty feet above any river you 
have here in this country and there isn't capital enough 
in the world to make that river turn that mill; but get it 
down about forty feet and away it works. We want to 
keep in mind that if we are going to overcome the world 
we have got to work with Him. 

Again, in that same epistle, fourth chapter and fourth 
Verse, "Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome 
them ; because greater is He that is in you than He that is 
in the world." Now, let us keep that in mind; He was 
the only man that conquered this world. With that life 
we can overcome the world and every man has been a fail- 
ure away from God. When Abraham got his eyes from 
God he was weak like other men and denied his wife. It 
is a very singular thing just to notice how the men in the 
Bible, if they have fallen, have generally fallen on the 
strongest points of their characters. 

Abraham was noted for his faith, and he fell there; but 
he lost faith and denied his wife. Moses was noted for his 
meekness and humility, and he lost his temper and God 
kept him out of the promised land. Elijah was noted for 
his power in prayer and for his courage, and he became a 
coward. Queen Jezebel scared him nearly out of his life. 
Peter was noted for his boldness, and a little maid scared 
him nearly out of his wits. And so you can run right on 



MOOD Y S LA. TEST SERMONS. 309 

through the Scripture. Men very often fall on the strongest 
points of their characters. I suppose that is because we 
are not on the watch. If we are going to overcome we 
have got to watch as well as to pray. 

Then we overcome by faith, the twentieth verse of 
the twenty-second chapter of Galatians: "I am cruci- 
fied with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but 
Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live 
in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, 
who loved me and gave Himself for me." The life that 
I now live is the life of faith, we stand by faith. 

Then in the twentieth verse of the eleventh chapter of 
Komans: "Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, 
and thou standest by faith." So that we live by faith; we 
stand by faith. 

Then we read in Corinthians that "we walk by faith;" 
and in Ephesians, "We fight the good fight of faith." 
We walk by faith, not by sight. The most objectionable 
characters we meet are those who are trying to walk by 
sight, not by faith. Take Jacob, he tried to walk by sight; 
and then take his son Joseph. Joseph walked by faith, and 
see what a victorious life he had. He was a mighty giant 
just because he walked not by sight, but by faith. Lot 
walked by sight and it led him astray. Abraham looked 
beyond and he saw the fountain whose builder and maker 
was God. He did not fall in Sodom like Lot. Why? 
Because Abraham walked by faith, and Lot walked by 
sight. 

Now I want to call your attention to three passages of 



310 OUR VICTORY OVER THE WORLD. 

Scripture; the first you will find in Genesis, third chapter 
and sixth verse: "And when the woman saw it was good 
for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to 
be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, 
and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and 
he did eat." Now, there are three things good for food; 
the lust of the flesh, pleasant to the eye (that is the lust of 
the eyes), third, to make one wise (that is the pride of life). 
My friends, you will find all faith reaches right along on 
these three lines. Turn over into John's epistles and see 
what he says about any man leaving the world. Now if 
you will turn over into Matthew's gospel, fourth chapter, 
you will read these words: "Then was Jesus led up by the 
Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And 
when he had fasted forty days and forty nights he was 
afterwards an hungered." See! the devil assailed him on his 
weak point. He was hungry. The tempter said to him, 
"If thou be the Son of God, command these stones be 
made bread." 

But he said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by 
every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 
Then the devil taketh Him up into the holy city, and 
sitteth Him on a pinnacle of the temple, * * *." Now, 
he took Him up into the temple, that beautiful temple, 
the most beautiful thing on the earth, and the second 
Adam overcame the lust of temptation. Now notice, there 
is the tree of life. The devil took Him up into these 
mountains and showed Him all the kingdoms of the earth. 
The tree of life is a third temptation, but He overcame the 



MOOD Y >S LA TEST SERMONS. 311 

third temptation. Now the difference between the two 
Adams is right here; the first Adam was overcome by the 
tempter, and the second Adam overcame the tempter. 
That is the question for ns to settle, whether we will over- 
come the world or let the world overcome us. When the 
war broke out we had some wise politicians who told us the 
war would be over in about ninety days, and men went 
into the army with a whoop. But you know it lasted four 
or five years. What was the trouble? We underestimated 
the strength of the enemy; and that is where we were over- 
come over and over again. I believe that a great many 
Christians are overcome because they don't know what a 
terrible fight we have. Now it is no sign because a man is 
a Christian that he is going to overcome the world, unless 
he resists temptation when it comes. Don't let any man 
or woman think all he has to do is to join the church. 
That will not save you. The question is, are you overcom- 
ing the world, or is the world overcoming you? Are you 
more patient than you were five years ago? Are you more 
loving than you were five years ago? Are you more 
amiable, have you more patience? If you haven't, the 
world is overcoming you, even if you are a church member. 
That epistle that Paul wrote to Titus says that we are to 
be sound in patience, faith and charity. We have got 
Christians, a good many of them, that are good in spots, 
but mighty poor in other spots. Just a little bit of them 
seems to be saved, you know. They are not rounded out 
in their characters. It is just because we haven't been 
taught that we have a terrible foe to overcome. The worst 



312 OUR VICTORY OVER THE WORLD. 

enemy yon have to overcome, after all, is yourself. When 
Captain T — — ■ came out in London he was a great society 
man, and he became converted. After he had been a 
Christian some months he was asked, "What have yon 
found to be your greatest enemy since you began to be a 
Christian?" After a few minutes of deep thought, he 
said, "Well, I think it is myself." 

"Ah!" said the lady, "The King has taken you into 
His presence, for it is only in His presence that we are 
taught these truths." "I have had more trouble with 
D. L. Moody than with any other man who has crossed my 
path. If I can only keep him right, I don't have any 
trouble with other people." There is the trouble. A good 
many of you have trouble with your servants. Did you 
ever think that the trouble lies with you instead of the 
servants? If one member of the family is constantly snap- 
ping he w 7 ill have the whole family snapping. It is true, 
whether you believe it or not. You speak quick and snap- 
pish to people, and they will do the same to you. 

Now, if we are going to overcome ourselves we have got 
to begin inside. God always begins there. We have got 
enemies within and enemies without. Now, take appetite. 
Let a man that is given to strong drink (that is the enemy 
inside) look to God for help, and he will give him victory 
over his appetite. Now, you want that power broken in 
you. Jesus Christ came to destroy the works of the devil 
and he will take away that appetite if you will let Him. 
Here is another man (or perhaps a woman) thpt is downed 
by lust. The Lord will give you victory over that; but 



MOOD Y y S LA TEST SERMONS. 3 1 3 

you have got to look to Him for it. You may have a bad^ 
irritable temper. I have had people say to me, " Mr. Moody, 
how can I get control of my temper?" If you really want to 
get control, I will tell you how. Do you want to get it? 
Well, you w T on't like the medicine. Now I will tell you 
so that you can get complete control inside of a few weeks. 
When a person treats that as a sin and confesses it they 
will get rid of it. People look upon it as a sort of a mis- 
fortune, and one lady told me she inherited it from her 
father and mother. Supposing you do. That is no excuse 
for you. "When you get angry again and speak unkindly 
to a person, and when you realize it you go and ask them 
to forgive you. You won't get mad with that person for 
the next twenty-four hours. You might do it in about 
forty-eight hours, but go the second time, and after you 
have done it about half-a-dozen times you will get out of 
the business, because it kind of makes the old flesh burn. 
You just try it and see if you don't overcome that temper 
of yours. A lady said to me once, "I have got so in the 
habit of exaggerating that my friends accuse me of exag- 
gerating so that they don't understand me." She said, " Can 
you help me? What can I do to overcome it?" "Well," 
I said, "the next time you catch yourself lying go right to 
that party and say you have lied, and tell them you are 
sorry. Say it is a lie; stamp it out, root and branch; that 
is what you want to do." Christianity isn't worth a snap 
of your finger if it doesn't straighten out your characters. 
I have got tired of all your mere gush and sentiment. If 
people can't tell when you are telling the truth, there is 



314 OUR VICTORY OVER THE WORLD. 

•omething radically wrong, and you had better straighten 
it out right away. Now, are you ready to do it? You will 
soon get out of the business if you will do it. Bring your- 
self to it, whether you want to or not. Do you find some 
one has been offended by something you have done? Go 
right to them and tell them you are sorry. You say you 
are not to blame. Never mind, go right to them and tell 
them you are sorry. I have had to do it a good many 
times. An impulsive man like myself has to do it a good 
many times; but I sleep all the sweeter at night when I 
get things straightened out. I have sometimes had to get 
off the platform and go down and ask a man's forgiveness 
before I could go on. A Christian mau ought to be a 
gentleman every time; but if he is not and he finds he has 
wounded or hurt some one, he ought to go and straighten 
it out at once. I tell you, you will get out of that kind of 
business after you have asked forgiveness a few times, 
because you don't like to do it. You know there are a 
great many people who want just Christianity enough to 
make them respectable. They don't think about this 
overcoming life that gets the victory all the time. They 
have their blue days and their cross days, and the children 
say, " Mother is cross to-day, and you will have to be very 
careful." We don't want any of these touchy blue days; 
these ups and downs. If we are overcoming, that is, the 
effect our life is going to have on others, they will have 
confidence in our Christianity. A lady came to me once 
and said, "Mr. Moody, I wish you would tell me how I 
could become a Christian." The tears were rolling down 



MOOD Y'S LA TEST SERMONS. 315 

her cheeks and she was in a very favorable mood, "but," 
she said, "I don't want to be one of your kind." "Well," 
I said, "have I got any peculiar kind? What is the mat- 
ter with my Christianity?" "Well," she said, "my father 
was a doctor and had a large practice, and he used to get 
so tired that he used to take us to the theater. There 
was a large family of girls and we had tickets for the thea- 
ters three or four times a week. I suppose we were there 
a good deal oftener than we were in church. I am married 
to a lawyer and he has a large practice. He gets so tired 
that he takes us out to the theater," and, she said, "I am 
far better acquainted with the theater and theater people 
than with the church and church people, and I don't want 
to give up the theater." "Well," I said, "did you ever 
hear me say anything about theaters? There have been 
reporters here every day for all the different papers, and 
they are giving my sermons verbatim in one paper. Have 
you ever seen anything in the sermons against the thea- 
ters?" She said, "Why, no." "Well," I said, "I have 
seen you in the audience every afternoon for several weeks 
and have you heard me say anything against theaters?" 
No, she hadn't. "Well," I said, "then what made you 
bring that up?" "Why, I supposed you didn't believe in 
theaters." "What made you think that?" "Why," she 
said, "do you ever go?" "No." "Why don't you go?" 
"Why, because I have got something better. I would 
sooner go out into the street and eat dirt than do some of 
the things I used to do before I became a Christian." 
"Why!" she said, "I don't understand." "Never mind," 



316 OUR VICTORY OVER THE WORLD. 

I said, "when Jesus Christ has the pre-eminence you will 
understand it all. He didn't come down here and say we 
shouldn't go here and we shouldn't go there, and lay down 
a lot of rules; but he laid down great principles. Now, 
He says if you love Him you will take delight in pleasing 
Him." And I began to preach Christ to her. The tears 
started again. She said, "I tell you, Mr. Moody, that 
sermon yesterday afternoon just broke my heart. I admire 
Him and I want to be a Christian, but I don't want to 
give up the theaters." I said, "Please, don't mention 
that again. I don't want to talk about theaters, I want to 
talk to you about Christ. So I took my Bible and I read 
to her about Christ. But she said again, " Mr. Moody, can 
I go to the theater if I become a Christian?" "Yes," I 
said, "you can go to the theater just as much as you like 
if you are a real true Christian." "Wall," she said, "I am 
glad you are not so narrow-minded as some." She felt 
quite relieved to think that she could go to the theater 
and be a Christian. But I said, "If you can go to the 
theater for the glory of God, keep on going, only be sure 
that you go for the glory of God. If you are a Christian 
you will be glad to do whatever will please Him." I really 
think she became a Christian that day, the burden had 
gone, there was joy; but just as she was leaving me at the 
door she said, "I am not going to give up the theater." 
In a few days she came back to me and said, "Mr. 
Moody, I understand all sbout that theater business now. 
I went the other night. There was a large party at our 
house and my husband wanted us to go, and we went; but 



MOO l> Y >S LA TEST StiRMOl 3 1 J 

when the curtain lifted everything looked so different. 
I said to my husband, 'This is no place for me, this is 
horrible. I am not going to stay here, I am going home.' 
He said, 'Don't you make a fool of yourself. Every one 
has heard that you have been converted, and if you go out 
it will be all through fashionable society. I beg of you 
don't make a fool of yourself by getting up and going out.' 
But I said, 'I have been making a fool of myself all of my 
life.'" Now the theater hadn't changed, you know, but 
she had got something better and she was going to over- 
come the world. When Christ has the first place in your 
heart you are going to get victory over the world. If you 
want to get victory give Christ the first place in your heart. 
Just do whatever you know will please Him. 

When I was in the old country I went to a place where 
there was more whisky distilled than in almost any other 
place in Scotland, and I opened upon whisky the best I knew 
how. A young man who had had a large distillery left 
him by his father came to me and said that if I could show 
him one passage of Scripture that condemned the distilling 
of whisky he would give it up. I said, "I could give you a 
good many." 

But I just gave him one: "All that ye do, do it for 
the glory of God." Distill your whisky for the glory of 
God. 1 would like to have you distill one hundred barrels 
of whisky and then pray to God to bless them to your 
fellow men. The idea of a man praying to God about 
whisky. Xow, we don't want to go anywhere where we can- 
not pray if we are Christians— and I am talking to Christian 



318 atrs VICTORY OVER THE world. 

people — anything that is contrary to that just give it up. 
I think a good many people now want a Christianity with- 
out the cross. They want a cross, but they don't want to 
pass through Gethsemane, they just want to get upon the 
Mount of Transfiguration without taking up the cross. 
There is only one royal way, and that is by the way of 
Calvary. We have got to deny ourselves some of these 
things if we are going to be victorious Christians. 

There is somebody who is covetous. There is more said 
in the Bible against covetousness than against intemper- 
ance. We think that a man that gets drunk is a horrid 
monster, but a covetous man will often be received into 
the church and be put into office, who is as vile and black 
in the sight of God as any drunkard. Mr. Durant told 
me he was engaged by Goodyear to defend the rubber 
patent and he was to have half of the money that camt 
from the patent if he succeeded. One day he woke up to 
find that he was a rich man, and he said that the greatest 
struggle of his life then took place as to whether he would 
let money be his master, or he be master of money, whether 
he would be a slave to money, or make it a slave to him. 
At last he got the victory, and that is how Wellesley was 
built. 

Are you jealous? Go and do a good turn for that person 
you are jealous of. That is the way to cure jealousy, it 
will kill it out. It will give it a blow right over the head. 
It is a horrid monster. It is a devil, that is what it is. 
Are you jealous? Are any of you ladies jealous of any 
other lady? Make them a present; do them a good turn. 



MOOD Y *8 LA TEST SERMONS. 319 

There were two business men, merchants, and there was 
great rivalry between them. One of them was converted 
and there was a great deal of bitter feeling between them. 
The man who had been converted went to the minister 
and said, "I am still jealous of that man, and I do not 
know how to overcome it." "Well," I said, "if a man 
comes into your store to buy goods, and you cannot supply 
him, just send him over to your neighbor." Oh, he said, 
he wouldn't like to do that. "Well," I said, "you do it 
and you will kill jealousy." He said he would, and when 
a customer came into his store for goods which he did not 
have, he would tell him to go across the street to his 
neighbor. And by and by the other began to send his 
customers over to this man's store. Give it up. You 
can't just fold your arms and say, "Lord take it out of 
me," but just go and work with Him; and that is the way 
with pride. "My dear friends, we haven't much to be 
proud of. People have an idea that it is just the wealthy, 
those who have a good deal of money, who are proud. 
You go down on some of the back streets, and you 
will find that some of the very poorest are as proud 
as the richest. It is in the heart, you know. People 
that haven't any money are just as proud as those 
that have it. We have got to crush it out. It is an 
enemy. You needn't be proud of your face, for there is 
not one of you but that after ten days in the grave the 
worms would be eating your body. There is nothing to 
be proud of, is there? Let's ask God to deliver us from 
pride. 



320 OUS VICTORY OVER THE WORLD. 

I haven't got time to take up these outside enemies. 
Custom is an enemy. Some one says: "I move in society 
where they have wine parties. I know it is rather a dan- 
gerous thing because my son is apt to follow me. But I 
can stop just where I want to; perhaps my son hasn't got 
the same power as I have, and he may go over the dam. 
But it is the custom in the society where I move." Once I 
got into a place where I had to get up and leave. I was 
invited into a home in the old country, and they had a 
late supper, and there were seven kinds of liquor on the 
table. I am ashamed to say they were Christian people. 
A deacon urged a young lady to drink until her face 
flushed. I got up from the table and went out — I felt that 
it was no place for me, They considered me very rude. 
That was going against custom; that was entering a pro- 
test against such an infernal thing. Let's go against 
custom. 

It may be that we have got to overcome in business. 
Perhaps it is business morning, noon and night, and Sun- 
days too. When a man will drive like Jehu all the week 
and like a snail on Sunday, isn't there something wrong 
with him? So my friends, that is the question for you 
and me to settle. Shall we overcome the world or shall 
the world overcome us? Now look at yourself. Are you 
getting the victory? Are you growing more even in your 
disposition; are you getting mastery over the world and 
the flesh; the lust of the eye; the lust of the flesh; the 
pride of the life? 

I just want to call your attention to the eight overcomes 



MOOD 7 y S LA TEST SERMONS. 321 

in Revelation: "To him that overcometh will I give to eat 
of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of 
God." 

The second overcome: "He that overcometh shall not 
be hurt of the second death." There is no second death 
for any true believer. There will be no death for us, but 
we are going to live on and on, we are going to live on 
forever. I pity any real true Christian that is living under 
the bondage of death. You may die, but you are going 
to live beyond. You must put off the mortal to put on 
immortality. 

The third overcome : " To him that overcometh will I give 
to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white 
stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man 
knoweth save Him that receiveth it." Every time we 
overcome some temptation we get strength to overcome 
another. When Daniel overcame first, it gave him 
strength to overcome the next time. He went on sur- 
mounting until he stood victor in the evening of life. 

Fourth: "He that overcometh, and keepeth My works 
unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations; 
and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of 
a potter shall they be broken to shivers; even as I received 
my Father. And I will give him the morning star." I 
honestly believe we are down here in school, in training; 
and if we cannot overcome we are not fit for God's service. 
I don't know where the kingdoms are, but if we are to be 
kings and priests we must have kingdoms to reign over. 
I believe God is just taking men and women and training 



322 OUR VICTOUY OVER THE WORLD. /I 

them. The fifth overcoming : "He that overcometh, the 
same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not 
blot out his name out of the Book of Life, but I will con- 
fess his name before my Father and before his angels." 
He that overcomes shall not be a stranger in heaven. Do 
you suppose Jesus was a stranger in heaven? AYas Daniel 
a stranger there; was that hero of faith, Joshua, was he a 
stranger in heaven? 

"Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple 
of my God, and he shall go no more out; and I will write 
upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city 
of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down 
out of heaven from my God; and I will write upon him my 
new name." Think of it. God writing his name upon us. 
"I will write upon him the name of my God." God looks 
down and says, "That is My man, My woman. They are 
fighting My battles, they are witnesses for Me." 

"To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in 
My throne even as I also overcame, and am set down with 
My Father in His throne." I tell you, you begin to climb 
now. Just take that in. Above the angels, above the 
archangels, above the seraphim, above the cherubim, away 
up, up, on to the throne with Himself, and there we shall 
be forever with Him. "To him that overcometh will I 
grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also over- 
came, and am set down with My father in his throne." 
Man, it is only a few days or weeks, or months for some of 
us to overcome, and then all is eternity to live in. 

I think the last one is the best — " He that overcometh 



MOOD Y *S LA TEST SERMONS. 323 

shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall 
be My son." 

You ask me how much I am worth to-day? I don't 
know. I don't know anything about it. I am a joint 
heir with Jesus Christ, and you must find out how much 
He is worth in order to find out my wealth. 

We are not only to be called heirs but joint heirs, and all 
Christ has I have. All that God does for Christ, Christ 
does for me. " He that overcometh shall inherit all things, 
and I will be His God, and he shall be My son." My 
friends, let us go out and overcome the world. Don't let 
any of these mean, low, contemptible things overcome us. 
If I wanted to find out whether a man or woman was a 
Christian, I wouldn't go to these ministers. I would go 
and ask the wives. I tell you, we want more home piety 
just now. If a man doesn't treat his wife right, I don't 
want to hear him talk about Christianity. We want a 
Christianity that goes into our homes and everyday lives. 
Some men's religion just makes me sick. They put on a 
whining voice and a sort of a religous tone, you know, and 
talk so sanctimoniously on Sunday that you would think 
they were wonderful saints. But Monday they are quite 
different. They put their religion away with their clothes, 
and you don't see any more of it until the next Sunday. 
You laugh, but let us look out that we don't belong to 
that class. My friends, we have got to have a higher type 
of Christianity or the church is gone. It is wrong for a 
man or woman to profess what they don't possess. If you 
are not overcoming temptations the world is overcoming 



324 OUR VICTORY OVER THE WORLD. 

you. Just get on your knees and ask God to help you. 
Your ministers may preach like Gabriel on Sunday, but 
that won't do any good if you live like Satan during the 
week in your homes. My dear friends, let us go to God 
and ask Him to search us. Let us ask God to wake us up, 
and let us not think that just because we are church 
members we are all right. You are all wrong if you are 
not getting victory over sin. 



MOOD Y % S LA TEST SERMONS. 325 



FORGIVENESS AND OBEDIENCE. 

I am going to talk about a subject that you will not like 
very well, but I found out a long time ago that the medi' 
cine we don't like is the best medicine for us. If there is 
anything that throws a sort of coldness over a meeting it is 
to talk obedience. You can talk about love and heaven 
and all those things, and people get so w 7 armed that they 
shout; but when you talk about obedience there is a sort 
of coldness over the meeting. Like a man I heard of dur- 
ing the time of slavery. He was preaching with great 
power, he was a slave and his master heard of it, and 
said, "I understand you are preaching, and they tell 
me you are preaching with great power." "Yes," 
said the slave. "Well, now," says the master, "I 
will give you all the time you want and you get up a ser- 
mon on the commandments and preach on the command- 
ments, and bear down on their stealing, for there is a grea; 
deal of stealing on the plantations." The man's counte- 
nance fell at once. He said he wouldn't like to do that, 
that there wasn't the warmth in it there was in some 
things, and I have always noticed those kind of things, 
when you come right down to them. People don't like to 
be told about them, you know. They don't like anything 
said about it, you know, because it comes a little too near 



326 FORGIVENESS AND OBEDIENCE!. 

home. Once I heard about a young minister who took the 
place of an old pastor, and he began to bear down pretty- 
hard upon the people. A man came to him and said, 
"Now look here, young man, if you expect to hold this 
pulpit you have got to stop that kind of preaching, for the 
people won't stand it." There are a good many people 
that are delighted when you talk about the sins of the 
patriarchs, and the sins of those Bible characters, but when 
you come here and touch upon the sins of this city that is 
another thing. They will say, "I don't like his style." 
No, nor his matter either, and perhaps you won't like this 
subject of obedience. But I tell you, we are told that 
without faith it is impossible to please God, and you will 
find that it is impossible to please God without obedience. 
Your faith don't amount to much without obedience. 
Fifth chapter of Hebrews, ninth verse: "And being made 
perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all 
them that obey Him." Eternal salvation unto all them 
that obey Him; not all them that feel Him, talk to Him, 
all those that say, "Lord, Lord," but those that obey Him. 
Eternal salvation means eternal safety. Did you ever 
notice all but the heart of man praises God? If you look 
right through history, you will find that everything but 
the heart of man obeys God. In the beginning God said, 
"Let there be light, and there was light; let the waters 
bring forth, and the waters brought forth abundantly." 
And one of the proofs that Jesus Christ is God was that 
He spoke to nature and nature obeyed Him, At one time 
He spoke to the sea, and the sea recognized and obeyed 



Mood y*s la test sermons. 327 

Him; He spoke to the fig tree and instantly it withered 
and died. It obeyed literally and at once. As I told you 
last night, he spoke to devils, and the devils fled; Ho 
spoke to the grave, and the grave obeyed Him and gave 
back its dead. But when He speaks to man, man will not 
obey Him; that is why man is out of harmony with God, 
and it will never be different until men learn to obey God. 
God wants obedience and He will have it, or else there will 
be no harmony. In the first epistle of John, second 
chapter, seventeenth verse, we read: "And the world 
passeth away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the 
will of God abideth forever." "He that doeth the will of 
God abideth forever, he shall never die." He says in 
another place that if we keep His sayings we shall never 
die. People say, "Well, don't you think it very unreason- 
able in God to punish Adam because he transgressed once?" 
Some years ago a superintendent telegraphed to a man not 
to turn the bridge until a special train passed. They 
waited and waited, and the man stood firm ; until one man 
overpersuaded him and he opened the bridge. He thought 
they w r ould have time to let the boats pass and swing the 
bridge back before the train came. But he hadn't got it 
more than opened before he heard the coming of the quick 
train. He hadn't time to get the bridge back, and there 
was a tremendous accident and lives were lost. The man 
went out of his mind and was sent to a madhouse, and his 
cry for years, until death released him, was, "If I only 
had; if I only had." If he only had what? If he had 
only obeyed, those lives would not have been lost Why, 



328 FORGIVENESS AND OBEDIENCE. 

not long ago a switchman just turned the switch at the 
wrong time, and twenty men were hurled into eternity, 
and a good many maimed and hurt for life. He only just 
disobeyed once. People don't seem to think there is any- 
thing in disobedience that needs to be punished. Men 
think that it is hard because He is going to punish dis- 
obedience. Now, if we want to get near God, the quickest 
way to get near Him is obedience. Matthew xii, 46: 
"While he yet talked to the people, behold, His mother 
and His brethren stood without desiring to speak to Him. 
Then one said unto Him, behold, thy mother and thy 
brethren stand without, desiring to speak to thee. But 
He answered and said unto him that told Him, who is My 
mother? and who are My brethren? And He stretched 
His hands toward His disciples and said, behold My mother 
and My brethren, for whosoever shall do the will of My 
Father which is in Heaven, the same is My brother, sister, 
and mother." 

Now, if you want to get near God, just obey Him, that 
is the quickest way to get near Him. Obedience is a mat- 
ter of the heart. It isn't a matter of feeling; and the 
truest sign that we love God is that we obey Him. You 
couldn't have a better sign than that. Now, you notice. 
He takes those into the nearest communion with Himself 
that just obey Him. It isn't a matter of just feeling or 
picking out things we like to do, but it is doing what He 
commands us to do. And the man or woman that is 
nearest to God is the man or woman that is just obeying 
Him. They are nearer than His own mother if she didn't 



MOOD T'S LA TEST SERMONS. 329 

obey Him. There is no friendship without obedience. 
Now notice, Adam lost everything by disobedience, and 
the second Adam gained everything by obedience. 

Again, let me call your attention tp first Samuel, 
xv, 2 — u Ancl Samuel said, hath the Lord as great 
delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the 
voice of the Lord? Behold to obey is better than sacrifice 
and to hearken than the fat of rams." What does your 
work of charity amount to if you are not obedient. God 
doesn't want sacrifice if there is disobedience. When we 
bring a lamb to the altar that is sacrifice, but if we are liv- 
ing in disobedience to God that is no sacrifice. Supposing 
that little girl is mine, or we will take that little boy. I 
send that little boy to school and he plays truant. He 
says, "I don't want to go to school," and he goes off and 
fishes all day. He knows I am very fond of trout. He 
says, "I know I have been disobedient, but I can sell these 
trout for fifty cents, and I will just take them home to my 
father. It will be a great sacrifice but it will please my 
father." Po you think that will please me? Not by a 
good deal ! I want obedience, and until he obeys me his 
sacrifice is an abomination to me. The sacrifices of the 
wicked are an abomination to God and man. Don't let 
any man deceive himself and think he is going to please 
God by giving something to Him when he is living in dis- 
obedience. Men say to me, " You talk about that gambler, 
but he is very good to the poor," and they think they are 
going to merit heaven because they are good to the poor. 
"God will have to remember him." That is all right, or 



330 FORGIVENESS AND OBEDIENCE. 

he thinks that it makes it all right. My dear friends, 
as long as we are living a disobedient life we cannot 
do a thing to please God. That boy cannot please me 
until he is willing to obey and do the very thing I 
tell him to do. It is much easier to bring a lamb or 
bullock to the altar than it is to bring ourselves. Did yon 
know it? I remember hearing a story about an Indian 
who wanted to come to the Lord. He brought his blanket, 
but the Lord wouldn't have it. He brought his gun, his 
dog, his bow and arrow, but the Lord wouldn't have them ; 
but at last he brought the poor Indian, and the Lord took 
him. The Lord wanted himself. What the Lord wants 
is not what you have got, but yourselves, and yon cannot 
do a thing to please God until you surrender yourself to 
Him. Now you take the two Sauls. They lived about 
one thousand years apart. One started out well and ended 
poorly, and the other started out poorly and ended well. 
The first Saul got a kingdom and a crown, he had a lovely 
family, he had the friendship of Samuel, the best prophet 
there was on the face of the earth; and yet he lost the 
friendship of Samuel, lost his crown, his kingdom and his 
life, all through an act of disobedience. God took the 
crown from his brow and put another man in his place. 
Why? Because he disobeyed. Now, you take the Saul of 
the New Testament. When God called him, he wasn't 
disobedient to the Heavenly Father, and he was given a 
heavenly kingdom. One act of obedience, one act of dis- 
obedience. The act of obedience gained all, and the act of 
disobedience lost everything. And so you will find right 



MOOD 7 S LA TEST SERMONS. 331 

through the Scriptures this is taking place constantly. I 
believe the wretchedness and misery and woe in our Ameri- 
can cities to-day comes from disobedience to God. If they 
won't obey God as a nation, let us begin individually. Let us 
make up our minds that we will do it, cost us what it will, 
and you will have peace and joy. In the eleventh chapter 
of Deuteronomy, twenty-sixth verse, we read: "Behold, I 
set before you this day a blessing and a curse; a blessing, 
if ye obey the commandments of your Lord, which com- 
mand you this day; and a curse if ye will not obey the 
commandments of your Lord, but turn aside out of the way 
I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye 
have not known." Isn't that enforced? A man or woman 
that will serve God. Isn't the blessing of God resting 
upon them? There is great reward in keeping God's laws 
and statutes, but a great curse upon them that will disobey 
God. Look at the wives and mothers in this city that have 
gone right against the law of God and married ungodly 
men and drunkards. See what hells they are living in 
to-day. Just one act of disobedience. They are suffering 
tortures day by day, dying by inches. The whole country 
is more or less cursed by this disobedience. A mother told 
me np in Minnesota that she had a little child that took a 
book and threw it out of the window. She told him to go 
and pick it up. The little boy said, "I won't." She said, 
"What?" He said again, "I won't." She said, "You 
will. You go and pick up that book." He said he couldn't 
do it. She took him out and she held him right to it. 
Dinner time came and he hadn't picked up the book. She 



332 FORGIVENESS AND OBEDIENCE. 

took him to dinner, and after it was over she took him out 
again; they sat there until tea-time. When tea-time came 
she took him in and gave him his supper, and then took 
him out and kept him there until bedtime. The next 
morning she went out again and kept him there until 
dinner-time. He found he was in for a life job, and he 
picked the book up. She said she never had any trouble 
with the child afterward. Mothers, if you don't make 
that boy obey when he is young, he will break your heart. 
You say, "Cannot God make him obey?" I suppose He 
could, but He is not going to. He does not work on those 
lines. He isn't going to force you against your will. He 
is going to draw you by the cords of love, but if you are 
not going to obey Him, then you are going to suffer. One 
of my sisters told me that her little boy got up one morn- 
ing and spoke very unkindly to her. The father said: 
"What did you say, Sammy?" And the little fellow r 
repeated it. His father said: " Why! you shouldn't speak 
in that way to your mother. Go and tell her you are 
sorry, and ask her to forgive you." But he said he 
couldn't do that. "You must." He said he couldn't da 
it. His father said, "I shall punish you if you don't.'* 
He was one of those nervous fellows who was all a bundle 
of nerves. "Now," the father said, "if you don't go and 
ask your mother to forgive you I will have you undressed 
and put to bed, and you will stay there until you do." He 
thought that would bring him, but he couldn't get him to 
say, "Mother, forgive me." He went off to his business 
and supposed he would find the little fellow up when ho 



MOOD T } S LA TEST SERMON'S. 333 

came, but when he got home he found him still in bed. 
The father went in and sat down on the foot of the bed 
and said: "Sammy, what makes yon so foolish?" The 
little fellow cried as if his heart would break. He said he 
did want to get up so bad, but he said he couldn't say it. 
The father said he could get up if he would ask his mother 
to forgive him, but he couldn't do that. He could say 
everything but that. I venture to say that there are five 
hundred sinners here to-day that reason themselves into 
the belief that they cannot obey God. God does not com- 
mand you to do something you cannot do and then, punish 
you for not doing it. Well, my brother-in-law went down 
to his office and thought he should surely see Sammy at 
tea-time; but lo, and behold! when he got home Sammy 
was still in bed. My brother-in-law went in and reasoned 
with him again. But he couldn't ask his mother to for- 
give him, that was the one thing he couldn't say. My 
sister said it seemed like a funeral in the house, all the joy 
and sunshine was gone. He was an only son, and when 
night came on before she went to sleep she talked to him 
and asked him just to beg her forgiveness. But he said 
he couldn't do it. After he went to sleep she went in to 
see him, and there the little tear lay on his cheek. She 
longed to kiss him, but they must break his will. She 
said she left the door open and thought he might come to 
her, but he never came. When morning came she thought 
he would come rushing in and ask her to forgive him, but 
he never came. My brother-in-law came home the second 
day, and the boy was still in bed. The mother went m 



334 FORGIVENESS AND OBEDIENCE. 

and sat down on the edge of the bed, and she said : " Now, 
Sammy, you just repeat after me, Mother" — "mother" 
— "forgive" — "forgive" — "me " — "me." And the mo- 
ment he said "me," he leaped up in bed and said, "I have 
said it! I have said it! Dress me quick and let me go 
down and tell papa. Won't he be glad?" Little stupid 
dunce! He might have said it the first morning, he 
needn't have gone to bed. You laugh, but that is your- 
self. You look into the looking-glass and you will see 
that little boy. I have seen hundreds of you. Yes, you 
would like to obey, but you cannot. I don't believe a 
word of it. Now this is the question for you to settle, the 
battle is fought on that one word of the will, the door 
hangs on that one hinge of the will. Will you obey? That 
is the question! It isn't a mere matter of sentiment, 
joining some church. Will you obey the voice of God and 
do as he commands you? No man can obey for you any 
more than he can eat and drink for you. You must eat 
and drink for yourself, and you must obey God for your- 
self. There is a story told about Girard, one of the first 
millionaires this country ever had. A green Irishman 
came over to this country, and he had been walking round 
the streets of Philadelphia for a long time unable to get 
anything to do. One day he went into Girard's office and 
asked him if he couldn't give him something to do to keep 
soul and body together. Girard said, "Y 7 es, do you see 
that pile of bricks down there?" "Yes." "Well, pile it 
up at the other end of the yard." The Irishman went to 
■work. Night came on and he had the work all done, and 



MOOD 7 f S LA TEST SERMONS. 335 

he went op into the office, touched his hat, got his pay, 

and asked if Girard had any work for him the next morn- 
ing. Girard told him he had. The next morning he came 
along. Girard said, "You go and take that pile of bricks 
and carry it back where you found it." The Irishman went 
at the work without a word. He wasn't a Yankee, you 
better believe. Night came on, he got his pay and wanted 
to know if there would be work for him the next morning. 
Girard kept him marching up and down there for a num- 
ber of days, until he found he was just the man he wanted. 
One day he said, "You go down and bid that sugar off."' 
When the auctioneer put the sugar up. here was a green 
Irishman bidding. The people laughed and made sport of 
him, and tin ally it was knocked off to him. The auc- 
tioneer said in a gruff tone, "Who is going to pay for this 
sugar?'" '"Girard, sir.'' ;, 'Y^ou Girard's agent?" Mighty 
man then. Girard had found a man he could trust; God 
wants to find a man He can trust. Obedience is literal. 
prompt, cheerful, willing action. Do what God wants you 
to do without asking any questions. When God finds such 
a man, I believe he is the mightiest power on this earth. 
Don't you think so? Do you know every man was blessed 
while Christ was on earth, was blessed by obedience? Ten 
lepers came to Him and he said, ,; Go and show yourselves 
to the priest." They might have said, " What good is that 
going to do us? It was the priest that sent us away from 
our families." But they said nothing and went to the Son 
of God and they were healed. Do you want to get rid of 
the leprosy of sin? Obey God. Yon say you don't feel 



336 FORGIVENESS AND OBEDIENCE. 

like it. Did you always feel like going to school when yon 
were a boy? Supposing a man only went to business when 
he felt like it; he would burst up in a few weeks. He said 
to that man, "Go to the Pool of Siloam and wash," and as 
he washed he received his sight. See, he was blessed in 
the act of obedience. He said to Naaman, " Go and dip 
seven times in Jordan," and while he was dipping he was 
healed. Simple obedience. You don't need to go to any 
theological seminary to find out how to obey, need you? 
There is very little obedience nowadays. People want 
something to rouse them all up, they want to hear elo- 
quence and oratorical sermons. Whatsoever He says do, 
do it. Does the Lord tell me to run? then I am to run. 
Does He say, go preach? I go preach. Whatsoever He 
tells you to do, do. But be sure He says it. Don't take 
your ideas. Go and live right at home, go and treat your 
wife and children right, pay your debts, and do some things 
of that kind. A colored man said he had seen a sign; he 
said it read "G. P. 0.," and he got it "Go preach the gos- 
pel." Another man got up and said, "No, that ain't it, 
it is go and pick cotton." If it is preach the gospel, go 
preach the gospel; and if it is pick cotton, then pick cot- 
ton. Some one has said if an angel should be sent down 
here to sweep the streets, or rule an empire, it would be all 
the same to him. That is just what the Lord wants men 
to do, obey His command. If you want eternal salvation 
you can have it right here to-day. The terms are right 
here. What are they? Obedience. Will you obey? Now 
come, you have got to settle this thing in your mind. Just 



MOOD Y *8 LA TEST SERMONS, 337 

make np your mind that yon are going to obey. Nothing 
iery mysterious about it. You needn't go to any old 
amsty library to read up on obedience, need you? If he 
tells you to repent, then repent. Seek first the Kingdom 
of God. Make that your first business, and I tell you 
what! this will be the grandest day you have ever seen if 
you make up your mind to obey Him. Will you do it? 



B3B THE PO WJEJR OF FAITSL 



THE POWER OF FAITH. 

I have another dry subject this afternoon. You 
that were here yesterday remember that I was talking 
about disobedience, and the disobedient people don't like 
to hear about obedience. To-day I want to talk about 
faith, and the unfaithful ones don't like to hear much 
about faith. It is a pretty dry subject. Some people say 
a will is a pretty dry thing. People don't like to read 
legal documents; but if you are mentioned in the will it 
becomes instantly very interesting reading. And when 
you come to remember that all the promises that have been 
made by God are linked to us by faith, faith ought to 
become one of the most interesting subjects in the whole 
Bible. 

Some one gave me this. I put it in my Bible, and I 
think it will do you good to put it into yours: "Faith gets 
the most; humility keeps the most; love works the most." 
"Faith gets the most!" Next Sunday afternoon I will 
talk to you about love, but now we will talk about faith. 
In the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, and the first verse, we 
read, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the 
evidence of things not seen." Faith is the dependence 
upon the veracity of another. Some one has said there are 
three things to saving faith — knowledge, assent, and con- 




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MOOD T'S LA TEST SERMONS. 339 

sent or the laying hold. I may know a thing, but if I 
don't act upon my knowledge, it doesn't help me. A man 
may tell me that ten thousand dollars have been deposited 
in the bank in my name and all I need to do is to draw 
upon the bank for the money; but if I don't act, don't 
draw upon the bank for it, it doesn't help me a bit. I 
don't get any benefit from the fact that the money is there 
unless I act. A good many people have a sort of dead 
faith; they believe intellectually that Jesus Christ can save 
them, that He is able, that He is willing to save them, but 
yet they are not saved. Why? Because they don't act 
upon what they believe. Now the promises don't do us 
any good unless we lay hold of them. In the sixth verse 
of that same chapter we read, "But without faith it is 
impossible to please Him; for he that cometh to God must 
believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that 
diligently seek Him." Now what the foundation is to a 
house, faith is to a true believer. You might say it is the 
foundation of society and everything. If you haven't any 
faith in a doctor, you don't want him in the house, you 
wouldn't commit the life of your child into his hands. If 
you lost confidence in a neighbor, you wouldn't want to 
associate with him. Faith is the foundation of all social 
intercourse, it is the foundation of all commercial inter- 
course. What has brought on this present wretched state 
of things? Want of faith. Men have lost faith in some 
portions of the government, and there is a want of confi- 
dence. Money is locked up, some of you have old stock- 
ings full tied up and the money is not in circulation. You 



340 THE POWER OF FAlTB. 

see there is a terrible lack of faith, and it is very important 
that we have faith. It is the foundation of everything. 

Now I want to say very emphatically that God doesn't 
ask a man or woman to believe without giving them evi- 
dence or something to believe. It isn't what some people 
say it is, "a leap into the dark," not by a good deal. You 
might as well ask a man to hear without ears, see without 
eyes, walk without feet, as to ask a man to believe without 
giving him something to believe. Now in the first Epistle 
of John, fifth chapter, ninth verse, we read: "If we 
receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; 
for this is the witness of God which He has testified of 
His Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the 
witness in Himself; he that believeth not God hath made 
Him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God 
gave of His Son. And this is the record, that God hath 
given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He 
that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son 

of God " Now notice, it isn't a mere creed or doctrine. 

Doctrines are all right in their places, but when you put 
them in the place of faith or salvation they become a sin. 
If Dr. Horton should ask me up to his house to dinner 
to-morrow, the street would be a very good thing to take 
me to his house, but if I didn't go into the house, I 
wouldn't get any dinner. Now a creed is the road or 
street. It is very good as far as it goes, but if it doesn't 
take us to Christ it is worthless. "He that hath the Son 
hath life." Faith in a person, and that person is Jesus 
Christ. It isn't a creed about Him, but it is Himself. 



MOO D Y '£ LA TEST SERMONS. 341 

When people say they cannot believe, I always like to press 
them on that one point, to know why. Some men say they 
cannot become Christians because they are so constituted. 
I don't believe one solitary word of it. I don't believe any 
man is so constituted that he cannot believe God if he 
wants to. Why? Because for these six thousand years 
He has never broken His promises to man, and until they 
can break the word of God man hasn't got an inch of 
ground to stand on. I met one of these men a good many 
years ago in one of our after meetings. He said he couldn't 
believe. I said, "Who?" "Well," he said, "I cannot 
believe." "Well," I said, "who?" He said, "I cannot 
believe. You don't understand me. I have intellectual 
difficulties, and I cannot believe." I said, "Who?" He 
began to color up and he said, "You evidently don't under- 
stand my difficulties, sir. I tell you I cannot believe." 
And I said, "Who?" Finally he stammered out, "I can- 
not believe myself." I said^ "Thank God, I am glad you 
have got that far along." I thought he was going to say 
he couldn't believe God, and I was going to pin him down 
and ask him why. I like to catch a man in that corner. 
Put your finger on a promise that God has made to man 
that He hasn't kept, and then we will talk about not 
believing Him. When a man says he cannot believe in 
himself, but can believe in God, then he is on the right 
ground. I wouldn't thank any man to tell me that he 
" would try real hard " to believe me. If I have given no 
ground for unbelief , I say he treats me unfairly; and one 
man cannot offer another man a greater insult than to give 



342 THE POWER OF FAITH. 

him the lie. That is where all this wretchedness, misery 
and woe has come from. All the woe that has come into 
this world has come through that door. There wouldn't 
be drunkards reeling thiough the streets if it wasn't 
for unbelief; there wouldn't be any harlots if it wasn't 
for unbelief. Many a man has been knocked down 
because some one has told him he was a liar. Unbelief 
gives God the lie. Supposing Dr. Horton should say: 
"I knew Mr. Moody when he was in California, and he 
told me a willful lie." What could I say? If you believed 
it, I wouldn't do you any good. There must be confidence 
between two parties before there can be any friendship or 
communion. Now, let's get up and get out of the pit 
which Adam took us into. Don't let any man say he can- 
not believe. I don't believe a word of it. The trouble is, 
people who don't know what the Bible says say they cannot 
believe it. People say, "I don't see why faith is so impor- 
tant." Faith is very important. Supposing they should 
tell you this building was on fire and you didn't have any 
faith in the statement and should sit there. What would 
be the result? You would burn up. Supposing a man is 
in a river where there is a cataract, and I just shout, " Man, 
danger, ahead!" But he doesn't believe a word; he just 
goes on. It isn't long before his little boat is dashed to 
pieces and he loses his life. Faith is a very important 
thing, isn't it? Supposing I hire two men to set out trees 
and after a day or two I go out to see how they are getting 
along. I find that one man has set out a hundred trees, 
and the other only ten. I say, "Look here, w r hat does this 



MOOD Y y S LA TEST SERMONS. 343 

mean? That man has set out a hundred trees, and you 
have set out only ten. What does it mean?" "Yes, but 
he has cut off all the roots and just stuck the tops into the 
ground." I go to the other man and say, "What does this 
mean? Why have you planted all of these trees without 
roots?" "I don't believe in roots, they are of no account. 
My trees look just as well as his." But when the sun 
blazes upon the trees they all wither and die. There are 
a lot of people running around who haven't got any roots. 
A good many people live on negations. They are always 
telling what they don't believe. I want a man to tell me 
what he does believe, not what he does not believe. And 
I like to meet a positive man. We just want to know what 
men do believe. We don't want trees that haven't got 
any roots, for they will dry up when the sun blazes 
on them. There are a good many persons that are 
just going on in that way, without any foundation, 
they have no faith. People say that it doesn't make any 
difference what you believe if you are only in earnest. I 
heard about two men who went up in a balloon, and they 
thought they had cords fastened in two places. They cut 
one of the ropes, and they found that there was no other. 
One man seizes the rope that is fastened to the balloon and 
the other seizes the rope that wasn't fastened to the bal- 
loon. The man that held on to the balloon was swept up 
into the heavens and dashed to pieces and the other was 
saved. What you want is a living Christ. 

Now, people say they don't know as though they have 
enough faith. Christ says, " If ye have faith as a grain oi 



344 THE POWER OF FAITH. 

mustard seed, you can remove mountains." The little 
child that reaches out his hand and takes the gift has 
faith. I heard of a woman in Scotland who was introduced 
to a minister by another minister as a woman of great faith, 
and she instantly rebuked him. "No, I am a woman of 
little faith with a great God." She had the right idea. If 
I have got a tumbler of water, I can as truthfully say I have 
water as if I had the whole Atlantic ocean. 

Then people say they don't know as they have the right 
kind of faith, and they are running around asking minis- 
ters and reading books to see if they have the right kind. 
Any faith that will bring you to Christ is the right kind. 
Some one has said that "What the eye is to the body, faith 
is to the soul." Now, you don't dig your eyes out of your 
head to see if you have the right kind, but that is what you 
are doing with your soul. What you want to do is to see 
that you have the right kind of Christ. Have you got a 
Christ that has saved you and is keeping you day by day? 
If you have, then you have the right kind of faith. An 
Englishman once used this illustration: A beggar sitting 
by the wayside, and a gentleman who had gone by year 
after year and passed him a shilling, one day passes the man 
a shilling and the beggar refused to take it. "I don't 
need your shilling." "What?" "I don't need your shil- 
ling." "Why, how is that? I have passed by here year 
after year and handed you a shilling. What does it mean?" 
And the beggar said, "I am no beggar now." "W r hat is 
the matter? What has changed your condition?" And 
the beggar replied, " Well, I was sitting here last night, as 



MOOD Y 'S LA TEST SERMON'S. 345 

usual, and a man came along and gave me £5,000." " Why, 
how did he give it to you?" "He just put it into my 
hands." "How do you know it is good money?" "Be- 
cause I have had it tested." "Which hand did you put 
out?" "My right hand." "How do you know that was the 
right hand?" "Why," said the beggar, "what do I care 
whether it was the right hand or not? I have got the 
money." Man, haven't you got the money? That is 
enough, isn't it? You needn't stop to discuss whether you 
have the right kind of faith. It is just as simple as a little 
child. And the best illustration of faith is a little child. 
That little girl down there lives a life of faith. She never 
bothers her head where she is going to get her breakfast or 
supper from. She wears out a hole in her elbow; doesn't 
bother her a bit. She knows mother will get her another 
dress. Now, we are to have that same childlike faith. 
The nearer we can come to a little child, or the faith of a 
little child, the better we will please the Master. Now, 
people say, "How does faith come?" I remember when 1 
was in Chicago I used to urge the young men to pray for 
faith. You know I had an idea that faith was going to 
come down some day and strike me like lightning. And 
then wouldn't I stir Chicago! I used to tell the young 
men to pray for faith — faith, faith, faith, faith. "That is 
what we want. When you get faith you can do anything." 
I closed up my Bible and kept praying for faith. In the 
tenth chapter of Eomans, seventeenth verse, one day I read f 
"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the 
word of God." Why! it was like a flash of light out of 



346 THE POWER OF FAITB. 

heaven to my soul. I found I had been looking in the 
wrong direction for faith. And, do you know, faith has 
been growing ever since. I believe faith grows like every 
other thing. You water and feed it and it will grow. 

If you are so busy about the Master's work, and you see 
people constantly blessed by your labors and prayers, how 
are you going to doubt? I cannot understand how it is 
that people are so full of doubts unless it is that they just 
neglect their Bibles, as I used to. These promises are ful- 
filled almost every hour in our lives. Now come! Let's 
get that in mind. "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing 
by the word of God." If you want your faith to grow and 
become strong, and to be powerful with God and man, get 
acquainted with the Bible. 

Now, faith isn't feeling, nor it isn't sight. You are not 
to feel, that hasn't anything to do with faith. A great 
many people think they are going to work themselves into 
a certain state of feeling before they will have faith. As 
I said the other day, it wasn't the feelings of the slaves 
that made them free, but it was Abraham Lincoln's proc- 
lamation. A friend of mine living down the Hudson 
used to go to New York every day. A few winters ago his 
daughter came with a family of little children to spend the 
winter with him. One day scarlet fever broke out among 
them, and one of the little girls had a slight attack of it. 
She was put off upstairs in quarantine, away from the 
rest. The old grandfather used to have a chat with her 
every morning before he went to New York, and every 
night when he came home he would go up to see her; but 



MOOD Y 'S LA TEST SERMONS. 347 

he wouldn't see the other children after he had been with 
her. Once he went up, and when he came into the room 
she took him over into the corner. She had some of these 
little crackers made in the shape of letters, and with these 
she had spelled out something. She never said a word, 
but she watched him. She had spelled out these words: 
"Grandpa, I want a box of paints." Never said a word. 
At night when he came home he left his overcoat with the 
box of paints in it, downstairs. She didn't seem to be 
much disturbed, but she said, " Grandpa, I thank you for 
the box of paints." She didn't see them, but she believed 
they were coming. Why, the old man laughed over it and 
said he wouldn't have missed the box of paints for the 
world. I remember once I wanted to teach my little boy 
faith. I put him on the table and said, "Jump." And 
the little fellow began to swing his hands and get ready to 
jump, but he said, "I'se 'fraid." I said, "I will catch you. 
Look right at me and jump. I will catch you." And the 
little fellow got ready to jump again. But he looked down 
and said, "I'se 'fraid." "Didn't I tell you I would catch 
you? I won't let you fall. Just keep looking right at 
me." He got all ready again and looked down the third 
time. I said, "Didn't I tell you I would catch you?" 
Finally I caught his eye and held it and he jumped. But, 
oh, the look of agony on his face! But I caught him. 
He thought it was fun and I put him back on the table and 
let him jump again. That was faith. But by and by he 
had too much faith and I had to run to catch him. But 
you cannot have too much faith in God. Now it pleases 



348 THE PO WEB OF FAITH. 

you to have your children have faith in yora, does it? 
How would you feel to have your children talk about their 
mother and say they didn't believe in her? That 
wouldn't be very pleasing, would it? What do you 
say? Now, my friends, let us have faith in the Word. 
If He has said it, that is enough. There is a passage 
in the third chapter of John, the thirty-sixth verse, 
that I would like to read: "He that believeth on the 
Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not 
the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth 
on him." Now let me read that again; "He that 
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that 
believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of 
God abideth on him." It doesn't say that you "shall 
have" but "hath everlasting life." Now will you believe 
on the Son right here? Eight now? It says "As he 
spake these words many believed on Him there." Why 
shouldn't it be so here this afternoon? These are the 
words of Jesus Christ. Let me read them again: "He 
that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he 
that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath 
of God abideth on him." 

Now, my friends, if you go out of here without salva- 
tion, there is no one to blame but your own self. There is 
nothing to hinder you from being saved but your own will. 
It isn't that you have not the power. You have it. If I 
make a statement here, you will believe it. If I should 
say that I will be here at half-past seven, you will believe. 
I may be sick; God is never sick. I may die; God never 



MOOD Y *S LA TEST SEEMOJSTS. 349 

dies. Here is life for you by just exercising faith. Now, 
the question is, will you do it? You say you cannot see it. 
Of course you cannot. I have got something here in this 
organ. These people back here can see it, but you cannot. 
Do you believe it is here? Dr. Horton, you cannot see it. 
Do you believe it is here? "Yes." What makes you 
believe it? "Because you say so." Well, do you feel 
it? "No." Isn't that believing when you can't see? 
Well, now, if I tell you what I have got here will you 
believe it? 

There is a blind man, will you believe it? "Yes." 
There is a man that has never seen me, he is blind, 
but he hears the voice and believes. Now, I will tell 
you what it is. I have got a book. Do you believe 
it? "Yes." Well, now, there is faith for you! He can- 
not see me, but he hears my voice and believes me. It is a 
book that I think a great deal of. There are three hun- 
dred and sixty-five passages in it on love. Many a time I 
have gone off to sleep just laying my head down upon one 
of these verses. If you want your hearts to glow with the 
love of God, get a book like that. Weil, now, will you 
take the book if I will give it to you? "Yes." I am not 
going to charge you anything for it. Do you believe that? 
"Yes." You don't feel it yet, but you believe it is com- 
ing? "Yes, I believe it is coming." Put out your hand. 
Do you feel it now? " Yes." Yes, because you have got 
it. And when you get Christ you will feel him. You will 
thank God by and by, perhaps, that you were born blind, 
if you were born blind. By and by when the light of 



350 ?&& POWER OF FAtm. 

eternity dawns upon yon and the new world opens up, oh, 
I would like to be there! Don't lock the door of your 
heart against Him and say He cannot come in. Let Him 
in now. "Believe on the Lord Jesns Christ and thou shalt 
be saved*" 



MOOD T'S LATEST SERMONS. 351 



THE INSPIBATION OF THE BIBLE. 

A gentleman came out to one of our meetings some 
time ago and said he hoped to get in that series of meetings 
an awakening that would last him all his life. I told him 
he might as well try to eat enongh to last him all his life. 
I told him he might as well try to eat enongh at one time 
as to try to get an awakening that would last him all of 
his life. That is a mistake that people are making; they 
are running to religious meetings and they think the meet- 
ings are going to do the work. But if they don't bring 
you into closer contact with the word of God, the whole 
impression will be gone in three months. In the one 
hundred and tenth Psalm, David prays nine times 
that God will quicken him according to His laws, accord- 
ing to His judgments, according to His precepts, according 
to His word. Now, if you get that kind of an awakening 
you have got something that is going to abide, because 
God's word is going to abide forever. That is substantial. 

Now, another thing — you need to take the whole Bible 
and not a part of it. There are a great many people that 
are living on a few chapters and verses. They don't take 
the whole of the Scripture. I want to say before I forget 
it, that Sunday-school teachers are making a woeful mis- 
take if they don't take the whole Bible into their Sunday- 



352 THE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE. 

school classes. I don't care how young your children are, 
let them understand it is one book, that there are no two 
books — the Old Testament and the New are all one. Don't 
let them think that the Old Testament doesn't come to us 
with the same authority as the New. It is a great thing 
for a boy or girl to know how to handle the Bible. What 
is an army good for if they don't know how to handle their 
swords? Now, I speak very strong on this, because I was 
brought up in a Sabbath school that didn't have a single 
Bible in it. We used to have these old question books. 
Do you know what they are like? There are questions, 
and the answers are given just below; so that you don't 
need to study your lesson. Mother had a Bible, it was a 
family Bible, but she was so afraid that we would tear it 
that she kept it in the spare room; once in a great while 
we were allowed to look at it. The thing that interested 
me most was the family record — when Dwight was born, 
when father and mother were married. Those were the 
most interesting things to me, you know. So when I got 
to be a man and my beard began to come out, I was bigger 
then than I am now, in my own estimation. I knew it 
all. Oh yes! You couldn't tell me much. I was wiser 
than my grandfather, or my great grandfather, or all the 
grandsires behind me. I went down to Boston from 
the country and went into a Bible class where there were 
a good many Harvard students. Their "families belonged 
to the church, I suppose, and they came home to spend 
the Sabbath, or perhaps they came home every day. I was 
put into this class of young men. They handed me a Bible 



MOOD Y 'S LA TEST SERMONS. 353 

and told me the lesson was in John. I hunted all through 
the Old Testament for John, but couldn't find it. I saw 
the felloAvs hunching one another, "Ah, greenie, from the 
country." Now, you know that is just the time when you 
don't want to be considered green. The teacher saw my 
embarrassment and handed me his Bible, and I put my 
thumb in the place and held on. I didn't lose my place. 
I said then that if I ever got out of that scrape, I would 
never be caught there again. Why is it that so many 
young men from eighteen to twenty years cannot be 
brought into a Bible class? Because they don't want to 
expose their ignorance. There is no place in the world 
that is so fascinating as a live Bible class. I believe that 
we are to blame that they have been brought up in the 
Sunday school without Bibles, and brought up with these 
quarterlies. The result is, the boys are growing up with- 
out knowing how to handle the Bible. They don't know 
where Matthew is, they don't know where the Epistle of 
Bphesians is, they don't know where to find Hebrews 
or any of the different books of the Bible. They ought to 
be taught how to handle the whole Bible, and it can be 
done by Sunday-school teachers taking the Bible into the 
class and going right about it at once. You can get a 
Bible in this country for almost a song now. Sunday 
schools are not so poor that they cannot get Bibles. Some 
time ago there came up in a large Bible class a question, 
and they thought they would refer to the Bible, but they 
found that there was not a single one in the class. So 
they went to the pews, but could not find one there. 



354 THE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE. 

Finally they went to the pulpit and took the pulpit's Bible 
and settled the question. We are making wonderful pro- 
gress, aren't we? Quarterlies are all right in their places, 
but if they are going to sweep the Bibles out of our Sun- 
day schools, I think we had better sweep them out. 

Now, a word about the whole Bible. I believe it is a 
master stroke of Satan to get us to doubt any portion of 
the Bible. If he can get us to doubt just one thing in 
that book he has accomplished a great point, and it is 
going to be the overthrow of many a man and woman's 
faith. If I had the right to cut this out of the Bible, and 
Mr. Sankey that, and Mr. H. that, it wouldn't be long 
before the whole Bible would be cut up. Once a gentle- 
man took a Bible to his minister and said he wanted to ' 
show him the minister's Bible. The pastor said, "Why 
do you call it the minister's Bible? That isn't my Bible." 
"Well," said the man, "I have sat under your ministry for 
some time, and when you have thrown anything out I have 
cut it out of the Bible." And he had got all of the Book 
of Job cut out, all Revelations, the Songs of Solomon, and 
about a third of the Bible was cut out. The minister said, 
"I wish you would leave that Bible with me." He didn't 
want the people to see the book in that condition. But 
the man said, "Oh, no! I have got the covers and I am 
going to hold on to them." And off he went holding on 
to the covers. If you were to hear some men preach, you 
wouldn't have anything but the covers in a few months. 
People say, " What do you do with what you cannot under 
stand?" I don't do anything with it. A man said to me 



MOOD T 'S LA TEST SERMONS. 355 

once, "What do you do with what you don't understand?' 1 
"I don't do anything with it." "How do you understand 
it?" "I don't understand it." "Well, how do you inter- 
pret it?" "I don't interpret it." "What do you do with 
it?" "I don't do anything with it." "Don't do anything 
with it? Do you believe it?" "Yes, I believe it." Of 
course I do. I am glad there is a height I know nothing 
about in the Old Book, a length and a breadth we know 
nothing about. It makes the book all the more fascinat- 
ing. I thank God it is beyond me. It is a pretty good 
proof that it came from God and not from the hand of 
man. You can take a chapter and read it for three hun- 
dred and sixty-five days in the year, and always find some- 
thing new in that chapter. Now, talk about believing in 
the New and Old Testament. What portion is there in the 
New Testament that you cannot find in the Old? In 
Matthew alone there are one hundred quotations from the 
Old Testament. There are eighty-nine chapters in the 
Four Gospels, and there are one hundred and forty-two 
quotations taken from the Old Testament. 

There are two hundred and forty quotations in Revela- 
tions taken from the Old Testament. It is absurd for men 
to take one portion of the Bible and throw out the rest. 

Another thing, there is not a thing in that Old Testa- 
ment that men are caviling about that God did not set His 
seal to when He was down here. Men say, "You don't 
believe in the story of those five cities being destroyed by 
fire, Sodom and Gomorrah and those three others?" Cer- 
tainly. They were buying and selling until judgment 



356 THE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE. 

came and swept them away. " And so it shall be in the 
coming of the Son of God." Men say, "Yon don't believe 
in the story of Elijah being fed by that widow do you?" 
Certainly. Christ said there were many widows in the 
days of Elijah, but Elijah was fed by only one widow. 
Why! Christ believed it, He referred to it Himself, He set 
His seal to it. The Son of God believed it, and "shall the 
servant be above his master?" Men say, "Do you believe 
the story about the Israelites being fed on manna?" Cer- 
tainly. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, 
even so must the Son of Man be lifted up." He connected 
that with His own cross. And then at last they look as 
wise as owls and say, "You certainly don't believe in the 
story of Jonah and the whale?" Yes, I believe in that. 
When 1 give that up I am going to give up the resurrec- 
tion. As you get along in life and you have perhaps as 
many friends on the other side of the river as you have on 
this side, you will get about as much comfort out of the 
story of Jonah as any other story in the Bible. May God 
help us to hold on to it! Jesus connected that with His 
own resurrection. In Matthew they said thrice, "Show 
us a sign." And He said that the only sign should be the 
story of Jonah in the whale's belly. Christ believed that 
Jonah went into the whale's belly, and are you going to be 
His disciple and be wiser than He? Men say, "It is a 
physical impossibility for a whale to swallow a man." It 
says, "God prepared a great fish." That is enough. If 
God created a whale, couldn't He create a fish large enough 
to swallow a man? He can create a fish large enough to 



MOODY'S LATEST SERMONS. 357 

swallow the whole world at one swallow. It is astonishing 
how men are sneering and jeering at the idea that God 
couldn't do it. A friend of mine was going back to Scot- 
land, and he heard a couple of these little modern philoso- 
phers discussing the Bible. One said, " The Bible says that 
Balaam's ass spoke. Now, I am a scientific man, and I 
have taken the pains to examine an ass' mouth, and it is 
so formed that it couldn't speak." He was going to toss 
the whole Bible over because Balaam's ass couldn't speak. 
My friend said he stood it just as long as he could, and 
finally he said, "Ah, man, you make an ass and I will make 
him speak." The idea that the God who made the ass 
couldn't speak through his mouth! Did you ever hear 
such stuff? And yet this was one of your modern philoso- 
phers! 

Then there is another class of people (and I am sorry 
that I am now talking to those in the church, some of your 
modern church members, and some that profess to be 
Christians) who say, " Of course I believe the Bible, but I 
don't believe the supernatural part." Well, now, if you 
are going to throw out that part, you might just as well 
burn it up and throw it away. There is no part of the 
Bible that doesn't teach supernatural things. You read 
that God went up from talking with Abraham. Now if 
that didn't take place, then the man that wrote Genesis 
knew he was telling a lie, and out goes Genesis. You go 
into Exodus and there are the ten plagues and Moses going 
through the Eed Sea, the water coming out of the rock and 
all those supernatural things. Now if those things were 



358 THE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE. 

not so the man that wrote it knew that he was telling a 
deliberate, willful lie. Out goes Exodus. You go into 
Numbers, and there is Moses making a brass serpent, which 
is put on to a pole and the people are healed. If that 
didn't take place out goes that book. And so you can go 
into all the books of the Old Testament, and there is not 
one that hasn't something supernatural in it. You cannot 
touch Jesus Christ anywhere that there is not something 
supernatural about Him. He drops down to tell the virgin 
that she was to be the mother of that child, and when 
Christ was born there came a fire down from heaven to 
shout His praises. That was all supernatural. His being 
warned and going off into Egypt was supernatural. When 
He commenced His ministry there was not a day when he 
was not doing something supernatural. One day He speaks 
to the leper, and he is made whole; one day He speaks to 
the sea and the sea obeys Him. When He died the sun 
refused to look upon that scene; this old world recognized 
Him, and the earth reeled and rocked like a drunken man. 
The earth knew Him. That was supernatural. And 
when He burst asunder the bands of death and came ont 
of Joseph's sepulcher that was supernatural. Christmas 
Evans, the great Welsh preacher says, "Many reformations 
die with the reformer, but this reformer ever lives to carry 
on His reformation." Thank God we don't worship a 
dead Jew. Do you suppose we would have this audience 
here to-day if we were worshiping a dead Christ? Not by 
a good deal. If we worshiped a dead Jew we wouldn't 
have been quickened and given life to our souls. I thank 



M 00 D 7 *8 LA TEST SERMONS. 359 

God that our Christ is a supernatural Christ, and this book 
a supernatural book, ana I thank God that I live in a 
country where it h so free that all men can read it. 

Now about what Christ says about Himself. He says 
the Scriptures cannot be broken. Let us keep in mind 
that the only Scriptures the apostles of Christ had was the 
Old Testament. The New Testament wasn't written. 
He means every word He says. Devil or man cannot break 
the word of God. Why, I would as soon doubt my own 
existence as to doubt that book. How any man can for 
one moment doubt the veracity of the Bible is a mystery 
to me. 

Now, Christ says in one place, "Heaven and earth shall 
pass, but not one jot or tittle of the law shall pass until the 
law is fulfilled." Then, in another place, "Heaven and 
earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away." 
Now, I will put that as the old and new covenant. "Not 
one jot or tittle of the law shall pass until the law shall be 
fulfilled," the new covenant, and then Christ comes and adds 
these words, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my 
word shall not pass away." Now, notice how that has 
been fulfilled. There was no shorthand reporter following 
Him around taking down His words; there were no papers 
to print His sermons, and they wouldn't have printed 
the sermons if there had been daily papers. The whole 
church and all the religious world was against Him. I can 
see one of your modern freethinkers standing near Him, 
and he hears Christ say, "Heaven and earth shall pass 
away, but my word shall not pass away." I see the scorn- 



360 THE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE. 

ful look on his face as he says, "Hear that Jewish peasant 
talk ! Did you ever hear such conceit, such madness? He 
says heaven and earth shall pass away, but His words shall 
not pass away." My friends, I want to ask you this ques- 
tion — have they passed away? Go and ask your infidels if 
His words have passed away. Do you know that the sun 
shines to-day on more Bibles than it has ever shone on 
before? Did you know that the American Bible Society 
and the London Bible Society issued fifteen hundred Bibles 
every hour? Thank God the Bibles are not going out; 
they are just coming in! More Bibles have been printed 
in the last eight years than in the last eighteen hundred 
years. The Bible is printed in three hundred and fifty 
different languages — it is going to the darkest corners of 
the earth. 

" Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not 
pass away." Are His words passing away? No, and thank 
God they are not going to pass away. You and I will pass 
away, and the world will pass away, but His word is going 
to live and endure. It cannot be wiped out. God broke 
the bands and is coming down along the ages. "When they 
brought out the new version the American committee 
brought it out at the same hour as it was put out in Lon- 
don. It was thrown on the market on Friday morning and 
that would bring it out Friday afternoon. They couldn't 
send it to Chicago because it was so late, and so an enter, 
prising concern set ninety different operators at work, and 
had the whole book telegraphed to Chicago and brought 
out Sunday morning. Nearly nineteen hundred years 



MOOD 7 '8 LA TEST SERMONS. 361 

after Christ left the world that happened, and yet men are 
running around and telling us that the old book is going 
out ! But my time is up. I will take this subject up again, 
and we will go into it deeper. I have only touched it yet. 
Bring your Bibles along with you, and your pencils and 
paper. It will be a good thing to wear out your Bibles. 
I don't like these gilt edged-Bibles that look as if they 
had never been used. Don't be afraid to soil them. Bring 
them along with you. 



362 a GOD 18 LOVE" 



"GOD IS LOVE." 

I will read a few verses from the first Epistle of John, 
fourth chapter, eighth to the twenty-first verse. "He 
that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love." In 
these few verses you find this sentence recorded three times 
— " God is love." I believe there are no three words in the 
Bible that Satan is more anxious to blot out than that one 
sentence. I don't think that he has been so successful in 
anything in the last six thousand years as in making the 
world believe that He is not a God of love. I earnestly 
believe that this old world has swung out in the cold and 
dark and will never swing back until this truth dawns upon 
it, that God is love. Mr. Spurgeon one day took a train 
from London down into the country to spend a little time 
with a friend, and he found this friend had a weather vane 
on his barn, and on this weather vane were the words 
"God is love." 

"What do you mean by that? Do you mean that God's 
love is as changeable as the wind?" "No, I believe that 
God is love whichever way the wind blows." Now, it is 
pretty hard to make saint or sinner believe that. When 
things are running smoothly we believe that God is love, 
but when things go wrong we think God does not love us, 



MOOD T y S LA TEST SERMONS. 303 

and when things are unfortunate and seem to be against 
us, then it is that we think that Christ has forgotten us 
and does not love us. Now, if I could just get this whole 
audience to believe that one sentence, in spite of your fail- 
ings, in spite of your sins, your backslidings, your luke- 
warrnness, I tell you it will be a grand day for this city. 
Now, three times John says in these few verses "God is 
love." Not that "He may love," but "is Love." You 
ask me why he loves. I don't know, I cannot tell you. 
If you should ask me why the sun shines I could not tell 
you. I suppose it shines because it cannot help it, because 
it is its nature. And I suppose that is the reason that God 
loves, because it is His nature. You take a man or a 
woman and make them believe that there is no one in the 
wide world that loves or cares for them, and they would 
rather die than live. It is that class that commits suicide. 
You wives know that if you haven't the love of your hus- 
bands you cannot do anything to please them, and life 
becomes weary and burdensome to you if there is really no 
love. The thing we prize above everything else in this 
world is love, and that is the thing that God prizes above 
everything else. He wants our hearts and affections. Now 
Jesus when He came into this world taught that the 
Father was love and all His teachings went on to show that 
His Father was a God of love. And not only did he teach 
that the Father was love but that He was love. He loved 
those that didn't love Him. That is the difference between 
human and divine love; we love a person as long as he is 
worthy and then it is that we cast him off. He loves you 



364: "GOD IS LOVE. 9 * 

in spite of what you have done and said and what you are 
doing. 

Now, I was going to try to prove that Christ loves those 
that are not worthy of His love. I am going to try before 
I get through to prove that God loves every woman in this 
audience. If you doubt it, then I believe you doubt Scrip- 
ture, because I think I can show that He loves you all. 
You remember the last night He was with His disciples, 
before He was betrayed, it says: "Having loved His own 
which were in the world, He loved them unto the end." 
Do you remember that was the night that one of them was 
going to betray Him, that one of them was going to deny 
Him and swear that he never knew Him, and every one 
was to forsake Him? Yet on that very night, it says: 
"Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved 
them unto the end." Now, I believe what makes eternity 
so awful to Judas is that he took away with him this fact, 
that Christ loved him to the end. When he betrayed Him 
with a kiss, there in the garden, the Master turned to him 
and said, "Betrayest thou the Master with a kiss?" He 
might have hurled him down into perdition, but the Mas- 
ter kindly said, "Betrayest thou the Master with a kiss?" 
It was that which drove Judas to the grave of a suicide. I 
believe he heard that ringing in his ears until it drove him 
clean mad. I believe that Judas remembers it until to-day, 
nothing but the love of Christ. So his love is unchange- 
able. 

There are some of you who don't speak to people whom 
you knew ten years ago. Your love is very changeable, 



M 001) 7 \S LA TEST SERMONS. 365 

There will be a falling out between now and 1895. Yon 
may get nearly 1895, but you will fall out before the end. 
You will say that there are some people who have betrayed 
you and have been untrue to you. Now, that is the differ- 
ence between divine and human love. His love is un- 
changeable. He loved Peter when Peter was denying Him. 
Of course He hated his sins and H \ hated Judas' hypoc- 
risy, but He loved them, and so He loves every hypocrite 
here to-day. He wants to woo you back to Himself. Then 
you go over to the forty-ninth chapter of the prophecy of 
Isaiah, and you read these words, "Can a woman forget 
her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on 
the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will not 
I forget thee." Now, the closest tie on earth is a mother's 
love for her child. There are a good many things that 
will separate a man from his wife, but there isn't a thing in 
the wide, wide world that will separate a true mother from 
her own child. I will admit that there are unnatural 
mothers, that there are mothers that have gone out of 
their heads, mothers that are so steeped in sin and iniquity 
that they will turn against their own children, but a true 
mother will never, never turn against her own child. I 
have talked with mothers when my blood boiled with indig- 
nation against the son who treated a mother so, and 1 have 
said, "Why don't you cast him off?" They have said, 
"Why, Mr. Moody, I love him still. He is my son." I 

was preaching for Dr. G in St. Louis, and when I got 

through he said that he wanted to tell me a story. There 
was a boy who was very bad, he had a very bad father; the 



366 "GOD IS LOVE." 

father seemed to take delight in teaching the boy every- 
thing that was bad. Finally the boy got so bad that the 
family refused to let their boy associate with him. But 
the boy was interested in him and watched him. The 
boy's father died some years after and the boy went on from 
bad to worse until he was arrested for murder. AY hen he 
was on trial it came out that he had murdered five other 
people, and from one end of the city to the other there was 
a universal cry going up against him, and during his trial 
they had to guard the courthouse, the indignation was so 
intense. The white-haired mother got just as near her 
boy as she could, and every witness that went into the 
court and said anything against that boy seemed to hurt 
her more than the boy. When the jury brought in a ver- 
dict of guilty, there was a great cry sent up, but the old 
mother nearly fainted away; and when the judge pro- 
nounced the sentence of death they thought she would 
faint away. After it was over the old mother got her 
arms around him and kissed him, and there in the court 
they had to tear him from her embrace. She went the 
length and breadth of the city trying to get men to sign a 
petition for his pardon. And then when he was hung she 
just begged the governor to let her have the body of her 
boy that she might bury it. They say that death has torn 
down everything in this world, everything but a mother's 
love. That is stronger than death itself. The governor 
refused to let the old mother have the body, but she would 
cherish the memory of that boy as long as she lived. A 
lew months after she followed her boy, and when she was 



MOOD Y *8 LA TEST 8EUM0JVS. 36? 

dying she sent word to the governor and begged that her 
body might be laid close to her boy. That is a mother's 
love. She wasn't ashamed to have her grave pointed out 
for all time as the grave of the mother of the most noted 
criminal the State of Vermont ever had. And the prophet 
takes hold of the very idea. He says: "Can a mother for- 
get her child?" But a mother's love is not to be compared 
to the love of God. A friend of mine was at a dinner party 
some years ago, and he was impressed with the dignified, 
queenly manner with which the lady of the house presided. 
After he had gotten into the drawing-room he remembered 
he had left something in the dining-room and he went 
back to get it. He found that same lady sitting at the 
same table with a man that looked like a tramp. She rose 
and introduced him as her youngest son, and putting her 
loving arm around him, she said, "He has gone far away, 
but I love him still." Is there a mother here to-day that 
has five children, and one has gone astray, and doesn't she 
love that one? Doesn't her heart yearn for him? I some- 
times think there is a little more love because there is pity 
linked with the love. 

Is there some poor fallen woman here to-day who thinks 
she is forsaken by God and man, and whose own pure 
sisters have cast her off and ostracized her? I want to say 
to such that Jesus loves you still. God is love. Let the 
love of God sink into your hearts to-day. He loves you 
because you have sinned. Did you ever think what has 
brought out the love of God? It was Adam's fall. When 
the news reached heaven God came down and sought him 



3G8 li GOD IS LOVE." 

out. Adam ought to have gone up and down Eden crying, 
" My God, I have sinned ! Where art thou ?" But insteai 
of that God sought him out and blessed him and told him 
that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's 
head. And so you will find all along through the Scrip- 
tures that He loves the world. There is not a person here 
to-day that can put her finger on a portion of Scripture 
that teaches that God hates a sinner because he has 
sinned. It was man's calamity that brought out God's 
love. I have two sons and if one of them should go 
astray, if I loved him it would make me angry to have him 
go and do wrong. What would I care that he had done 
wrong if I didn't love him? It is just because I love him 
that my boy has gone astray. Dr. Arnot, one of the great- 
est Scotch divines, was in this country before he died. His 
mother died when he was a little boy only three weeks old, 
and there was a large family of Arnots. I suppose they 
missed the tenderness and love of the mother. The Arnot 
children got the impression that their father was very 
stern and rigid and that he had a great many laws and 
rules. One rule was, that the children should never climb 
trees, and when the neighbors found out that the Arnot 
children could not climb trees they began to tell them 
about the wonderful things they could see from the tops of 
the trees. Well, now, you tell a boy of twelve years that 
he mustn't climb a tree and he will get up that tree some 
way. And so the Arnot children were all the time teasiug 
their father to let them climb the tree; but the old sire 
Baid: "No," One day he was busy reading his paper, and 



MOOD 7 '£ LA TEST SERMONS. 369 

the boy said, " Father is reading his paper. Let's slip down 
into the lot and climb a tree." One of the little fellows 
stood on the top of the house to see that father did not 
catch them. When his brother got up on the first branch, 
he said, "What do you see?" "Why! I don't see any- 
thing." " Then go higher, you haven't got high enough." 
So up he went higher, and again the little boy stretched 
and said, "Well, now, what do you see?" "I don't see 
anything." "You aren't high enough, go higher." And 
the little fellow went up as high as he could go, and down 
he came and broke his leg. Willie said he tried to get him 
into the house but he couldn't do it. He had to tell his 
father all about it. He said he was scared nearly out of 
his wits. He thought his father would be very angry. 
But he ran into the house and told his father, and he said 
his father just hurled the paper and started for the lot. 

W 7 hen he got there, he picked the boy up in his arms 
and brought him up to the house. Then he sent for the 
doctor. And Willie said he got a new view of that father. 
He found out the reason why that father was so stern. He 
said the moment that boy got hurt no mother could have 
been more loving and gentle. 

My dear friends, there is not one commandment that has 
been given us which has not been for our highest and best 
interest. There isn't a commandment that hasn't come 
from the loving heart of God, and what He wants is to 
have us give up that which is going to mar our happiness 
in this life and in the life to come. So don't let Satan 
believe for a moment that God doesn't love you. It is said 



370 "QODISLOVE" ■* , 

when the archbishop of France was thrown into prison 
there was a little window in the door of his cell in the 
shape of a cross, and a man in the cell next to him had 
been brought out and shot down, and he didn't know but 
that at any time they would do the same with him, He 
took a lead pencil and wrote on the top of that cross, 
"height," at the bottom, "depth;" and on either side of the 
cross "length" and "breadth." My friends, that is just 
what the cross of Jesus Christ tells us — the height, depth, 
length and breadth of God's love. How a woman in this 
audience can go to Calvary and sit there five minutes and 
doubt that God is love is a mystery to me. I used to put 
God as a stern judge on the throne, and His Son as one 
that had come to appease the earth and make it possible for 
me to get access to that Father. My dear friends, since I 
became a father I have made this discovery — it took more 
love for God to give that Son to die than it did for that 
Son to die. Mothers, woultn't you rather die than to see 
your own child die? I used to tell my mother, when I was 
a little boy, that I loved her most. And my little boy 
when he was about five years old would climb up on my 
knee and put his arms around my neck and say, "Papa, I 
love you the most." And the little fellow thought he did. 
But I tell you, since I have become a father I have found 
out that my love for my mother wasn't anything compared 
with my love for my children. Supposing your little 
boy should see you in your coffin. He would feel grieved 
at the time, but his grief would soon wear away and be for- 
gotten. But supposing you see your little boy in the coffin. 



MOOD Y \S LA TEST SERMONS, 371 

Would you ever forget it? Do you think this mother 
right down here would ever forget that little thing sitting 
in her lap? Never; as long as memory lasted, she would 
remember that child. I cannot tell you anything about 
the love of God. I heard a man once say that if we could 
borrow Jacob's ladder and ask Gabriel how much God 
loved, he would say, " God so loved the w T orld that He gave 
His only begotten Son, that whosoever believetli on Him 
should not perish, but have everlasting life." Now, my 
friends, let the love of God into your heart. Don't lock 
your heart against it, but let the love of God come in just 
now, this very minute. 

I see some children have come in. Let me tell them a 
story. When the gold fever broke out in 1846, there was 
a man in New England who had a wife and a little boy, 
and he wanted very much to go to California. The mother 
didn't want to have him go, but he promised that as soon 
as he got money he would send for her and the little boy. 
People then thought they w r ere going to find gold and 
become suddenly very rich, but there were a great 
many that didn't get anything. This man wasn't so pros- 
perous as he thought he was going to be, and when his 
letters came there was no check to take them to California. 
But one beautiful day the long-looked-for letter came, and 
they were to go to New York and take a beautiful Pacific 
steamer, and the man was to go down to meet them. After 
they had been out to sea a few days, all at once they heard 
on board that awful cry that is horrible to any one on water, 
" Fire ! Fire !" They set the pumps to work and did every- 



%n "GOD IS LOVM" 

thing they could, but the fire gained upon them, and at 
last the captain gave the ship up. He ordered the lifeboats 
lowered, but there were not enough to take them on board. 
Among others were this mother and her little boy. The 
last lifeboat was pushing away, and she knew it was her 
last chance, and she asked them to take her and her Uttle 
boy. But they said, " No, if we take them in we will all 
lose our lives. We can only take one of them." So they 
shouted back that they could take one. What did the 
mother do? Did she leave her little boy and get into the 
lifeboat herself? Ah, no. No mother would do that. 
No, she just took her boy to her bosom and gave him a 
good hug and kiss and dropped him into the lifeboat. But 
just before the boat left, she said, "My boy, if you live to 
see your father, tell him I died for you." Now, I want to 
ask these children in this audience this question, what 
would you say if that boy when he grew to be a young man 
should speak contemptuously of that mother? 

Christ made bare His arm and left the bosom of the 
Father and stooped from yonder throne to come down here 
to tell the world that He loved them, and all he wants in 
return is love. Make up your minds to-day that you are 
going to love Him because He loves you. Don't let any 
one think he cannot begin now. You can begin this very 
minute if you will. Let Him in this very hour. 

In Eevelation it says, " Unto Him that loved and washed 
us." "Unto Him that loved us," and then washed us. 
He just loved us in our sins and saved us from our sins. 
I was in Philadelphia preaching a little while after little 



MOOD Y 'S LA TKST SERMONS. 373 

Charlie Ross was stolen. I think you mothers will remem- 
ber what an intense excitement there was in 1875. On the 
outskirts of Philadelphia little Charlie Eoss was one day 
playing with an older brother, and a man enticed them to 
go off and get some candy. The older boy was left in the 
woods, and little Charlie was taken away. You remember 
how intensely this country was excited over it. When I 
went to Philadelphia, Charlie's mother used to come to the 
meetings to see if some one came in with her boy. Shortly 
after that I went to New York and some of her friends 
wanted me to keep a good lookout. That is a mother's 
love. Men were sent ofl into Japan, France, all through 
Great Britain to find that boy. The last I heard of Mrs. 
Eoss she still hoped her boy was going to be found. Now 
just let me use that mother as an illustration. Supposing 
she sits here to-day, she is still looking for that long-lost 
boy. She comes into the choir to-night in hopes that he 
may come in among the men. She just keeps watching, 
and she looks at this one and that one, but she does not see 
her boy. By and by the door opens and a man comes up 
the aisle looking for a seat. All at once Mrs. Eoss sees her 
long-lost Charlie. His clothes are ragged, he hasn't a 
decent thing about him, his hair hasn't been combed for 
weeks, and he looks very repulsive to the audience. But 
Mrs. Eoss sees her Charlie, her long-lost boy, and what 
does she do? I tell you, you would see a sight in this hull. 
She wouldn't wait until I got through with my sermon. 
She would get that boy into her arms and hug and kiss 
him, and then she would take him and have him cleaned 



374 "GOD IS LOVE: 1 

and give him a new suit of clothes. My dear friends, it is 
but a faint illustration. Christ loves you in spite of your 
sins. If there is any one here guilty of adultery Christ 
loves you and will forgive you. He will love you right on 
all through your life. My dear friends, don't spurn the 
love of God whatever you do. If you want power Christ 
will give it to you. Now, just pray that we may all pray 
that we may love Him. 



WALKING WITH GOD. 



WALKING WITH GOD. 

I am going to talk to-day about "Walking with God." 
Some have complained that I have talked so much to Chris- 
tians since I have been here. They think I ought to reach 
the outsiders. I want to say that when we get the church 
all right we will have no trouble with the outsiders. When 
Jacob got his face toward Bethel, then it was the fear of 
God fell on the nations all around. And when the church 
of God gets right, there will be no trouble about reaching 
the outsiders. God's line of work is to begin with His own 
people. It is said that when Mr. Spurgeon went up to 
London to preach, for six months he preached at the 
church. For some time he preached to the Elders of the 
church, and when he had preached to them for some time, 
one of them thought he had better let them alone and get 
at the outsiders. But his preaching hadn't straightened 
them out, and he said he was going to keep at them until 
they were all right, and then he would go at the church. 

When he got the church right, then the thing began to 
grow, and it grew for thirty or forty years. When the 
church gets quickened and is all right, there can be more 
accomplished in one day than you can accomplish in years 
when the church is not all right. I believe that it is the 



376 MOOD Y 'S LA TEST SERMONS. 

experience of most all men that have tried to do God's 
work when the church is right, then it is very easy to 
reach those that are wrong. When Adam fell he fell out 
of a communion with God and he didn't want to walk with 
God. What we want is to bring men back into fellowship 
and communion with God. When we walk with God, then 
we are going to have power, and not only with God, but 
with our fellow-men. Now turn to Leviticus, chapter 
twenty-six : " Ye shall make you no idols nor graven 
image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall 
ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down 
unto it; for I am the Lord your God. Ye shall keep my 
Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary; I am the Lord." 
I believe in that Book of Leviticus. I believe there is 
more of the Lord Jesus in that book than in any other 
book of the Bible. Now I want to say that I never saw 
any one who kept the Sabbath and reverenced God's sanc- 
tuary who didn't prosper. I have never seen a man desert 
the house, the law, or the statutes of God, but that he 
grew lean. I was talking with a man here yesterday who 
was once a Christian man and had sweet fellowship with 
God, but he began to do work seven days in the week, and 
now he has lost all fellowship with God, and he is wretched 
and miserable. I believe there are thousands to-day in 
just that condition. Leviticus xxvi, 3, 4: "If ye walk in 
my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; 
then will I give you rain in due season, and the land shall 
yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their 
fruit," Leviticus xxvi, 12; "And I will walk among you, 



WALKING WITH GOD. ZTt 

and will be your God, and ye shall be my people;" and in 
the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth verses: "And if ye 
will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary 
unto me; then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; 
and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins." 
Now, I don't see how the Lord could talk any plainer to 
us than that, you walk with me and I will walk with you; 
you go contrary to me, and I will go contrary to you. I 
believe the reason so many people are having such hard 
times now is because they have wandered into sin. For 
the last twenty years we have had great prosperity in this 
country, and during that time we have wandered away 
from God. "We have deserted His laws and His statutes, 
and now we are having trouble all over the land. I hope 
that out of this trouble there is going to come a great 
blessing; and I believe there is going to be a great blessing. 
In the eighty-fourth Psalm, eleventh verse, we read these 
words, "For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord 
will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold 
from them that walk uprightly." If we walk uprightly, 
no good thing will He withhold from us; but if we do not 
walk uprightly, we cannot claim that blessing. 

Now turn over into Jeremiah, vi, 16: "Thussaith the 
Lord, stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old 
paths, where is the good way and walk therein, and ye 
shall find rest for your souls. But they said, we will not 
walk therein." Now, isn't that the language of to-day of 
hundreds of professed Christians? They don't like the 
old doctrines. They want a new gospel now, a new creed^ 



378 MOOD T'S LATEST SERMONS. 

new ministers, they have got itching ears to hear some* 
thing else besides this old gospel. They don't like the old 
way. Now, the way that our fathers trod, the way that 
John Wesley trod is good enough for us. The way Martin 
Luther, John Knox and all those men trod is good enough 
for us. Now, you notice Israel got into a backslidden state, 
and I suppose they talked as men talk now, against this 
creed. They say it is old and worn out. Well, it isn't as 
old as the sun. When you build a house, I wouldn't have 
any windows in to let that old sun in, for it is worn out 
long ago. Jeremiah vi, 17, 18, 19: "Also I set watchmen 
over you, saying, hearken unto the sound of the trumpet. 
But they said, we will not hearken. Therefore hear, ye 
nations, and know, congregation, what is among them. 
Hear, earth; behold I will bring evil upon this people, 
even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have heark- 
ened not unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it." 
Now, notice, they said they would not walk in the old way. 
They cast God and His laws aside. Jeremiah is put in 
prison because he had prophesied against them, and 
Nebuchadnezzar came and took him and all his city, and 
then dug out Jeremiah's eyes and bound him in fetters of 
brass, and he died in prison. Old men were taken down 
into Babylon and put into captivity and kept there for 
seventy years, because they walked contrary to the Lord. 

"Now, let me turn to the New Testament. I haven't 
got time to go along with the old. Turn over to the 
second book of Corinthians vi, 14, 18: "Be ye not un- 
equally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellow- 



WALKING WITH GOD. 379 

ship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what 
communion hath light with darkness? And what concord 
hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that 
believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the 
temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the 
living God ; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk 
in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my 
people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye 
separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, 
and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and 
ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord 
Almighty." Now, I don't know of any portion of Scrip- 
ture that is more ignored to-day than that portion. What 
is the result? You see wreck after wreck all over the 
country, because people have paid no regard to that law. 
Men who will go into partnership with the most ungodly 
men because they can make money faster. They will go 
into lodges and clubs and yoke themselves with the un- 
godly, and then the ungodly will vote to do some disrepu- 
table thing. A Christian man went into a club some time 
ago. They had about one hundred members in the club, 
and the question came up whether or not they should go 
on a Sabbath excursion. The unbelievers out-voted the 
Christians. Every Christian man was party to it in that 
club. Wasn't he? W 7 hat were they there for? A man 
came to me in one of these cities and he was in great dis- 
tress. He was a banker and a prominent Christian man, 
but he had two partners and they had out-voted him to do 
a very disreputable thing. He said, "Here is my Chris- 



380 MOOD Y >S LA. TEST SERMONS. 

tian character compromised." I asked him how long it 
■was since he had gone into partnership. He told me a 
number of years ago. I said, "After yon became a Chris- 
tian yon took those men into partnership with you?" He 
said, "Yes, I had to do that in order to make money." 
He said he was going to do good with the money. I told 
him he had tied himself with two ungodly men and he was 
going to suffer. And he did suffer. To-day his testimony 
is gone and his influence has all been swept away, because 
he was yoked with two godless men. Now, I am going to 
come a little nearer home. Some men went into Free 
Masonry, and they voted because there were Jews in the 
lodge that they wouldn't have the New Testament. That 
is a nice place for Christian men to be in! They wouldn't 
have the New Testament because they wanted the Jews. 
Now, I will come still nearer home. I know you will get 
angry, some of you, but never mind. Don't get np and 
go out. Just stick to it and let me have a chance at you. 
"Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers." 
My dear friends, what we want is to draw a line between 
the church and the world. If you want real peace and 
rest to your soul, just keep separate from the world. I 
remember when I was a boy up in Northfield, right near 
the old red schoolhouse there was an apple tree that bore 
the earliest apples of any tree in town. They had a law in 
that town that fruit on a tree overhanging the street 
belonged to the public, and any fruit on the other side of 
the fence belonged to the property holders. Half that 
apple tree was over in the street, and it got more old 



WALKING WITH QOD. 381 

brooms and brickbats and handles than any other tree in 
town. We boys used to watch to see when an apple was 
getting red. I never got a ripe apple from that tree in my 
life, and I don't believe any one else ever did. You never 
went by that tree that you didn't see a lot of broom-handles 
and clubs up there. Well now, you take a lot of Chris- 
tians, and they want to live right on the line, with one 
foot in the world and one foot in the church. They get 
more clubs than any one else, you know. The world clnbs 
them. They say, "I don't believe in that man's religion/' 
Why, if you were sick they are the last men you would 
send for to help and comfort you. And the church clubs 
them. They get clubs both sides. Now it is a good deal 
better to keep just as far from the line as you can if you 
want power. The man that has the most power is a sepa- 
rate man. Some of you look cross, you don't like it. 
Are you getting cross? The reason you look cross is 
because I have hit you. Well, that is what I am here for. 
The man that is living a worldly life ought to feel cross, 
because he hasn't found in the Christian religion what he 
expected to find. But you come clean out. I have often 
said to young people who are converted, "Stay in the 
world, or get clean out of it. Don't try to serve both 
worlds, because you can't do it." "Oh, well!" they say, 
" don't be so narrow minded. Don't be so bigoted. Don't 
be so puritanical. You will lose your influence if you do." 
I would like to ask this question — who had the most influ- 
ence in Sodom? Abraham who was out of it, or Lot whc 
was in it? I tell you! You have got to be outside the 



882 MOOD F \S LA TEST SEBMOffS. 

world if you are going to protest against it. The mirth 
that cheers and makes the world happy will freeze a Chris- 
tian. The kiss of Judas wounded the heart of the Son of 
God a good deal more than the Roman spear did. The 
wife that lets down the standard in order to reach her hus- 
band always loses ground. 1 have heard of wives who have 
made a bargain with their husbands that they would go to 
theaters with them if the husbands would go to church 
with them. The wife goes against her conscience to the 
theater and he doesn't have half the respect for her that 
he would have had if she had stood firm. Is it right? 
That is the question. If it is right go into the world. If 
not keep out of it. But you say, " Well, my husband is 
very bitter." Very well, let him be bitter. You will win 
him if you take a high stand and just walk in fellowship 
with God. But if you just come down to his level, you 
will lose your testimony and influence. 

Now, let me turn to a passage that perhaps you are all 
familiar with, Numbers xiv, 4, 7: "And the mixed multi- 
tude that was among them fell a lusting; and the children 
of Israel also wept again, and said, who shall give us flesh 
to eat? We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt 
freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and 
the onions, and the garlic; but now our souls are dried 
away. There is nothing at all, besides this manna, before 
our eyes." Think of that. They remembered the onions 
and the leeks, and the garlic, but they forgot the old task- 
masters with their whips, making the bricks without straw, 
the hard, bitter bondage, but they did remember the onions 



WALKING WITH GOD. 383 

and leeks and the garlic. Now, what caused it? The 
mixed multitude; and when you see a Christian minister 
making the ungodly people in his congregation his society, 
look out for him. When you see a man or woman in your 
church that would rather be with the ungodly than with 
God's people look out for their piety. It isn't skin deep. 
It is a sham. When you see a young man that will hang 
around disreputable places, look out for his Christianity, 
for it is a sham. If you would rather go to a place where 
Christ is sneered and jeered and scoffed at, than to go 
where God's people are, there is something radically wrong. 
If you are linked with the world and worldly things there 
is something wrong. God gave them angel's food, manna 
that came from heaven, and they left that manna, but they 
looked for fish, the onions, the leeks and the garlic of 
Egypt. Yes, and isn't that the condition of a good many 
now? When you see a child of God that would rather go 
to some places of amusement, and takes more interest in 
them than in God's house and God's people, isn't there 
something wrong? A friend of mine said he had a beauti- 
ful canary bird, and he thought it was the sweetest singer 
they had ever had. Spring came on, and he felt it was a 
pity to keep the poor bird in the house, so he just put it 
under a tree right in front of his house. He said before 
he knew it a lot of these little English sparrows got under 
that tree. (And you know they cannot sing, any more 
than I can, and 1 don't know one note from another) and 
went " chutter, chutter, chutter, chutter." Before he knew 
it, that little canary had lost all its sweet notes. It had 



384 MOOU T >S LA TEST SERMONS 

got into bad company. And so with Christians. They 
cannot help it. After he found out that he had made a 
mistake he took the bird into the house and it just kept 
up that "chutter, chutter, chutter, chutter." He said he 
bought another bird, but the canary nearly ruined it. He 
said that bird never got back its sweet notes. Now, don't 
you know lots of Christian people who had a beautiful tes- 
timony several years ago, but they have lost their witness, 
and all they do now is talk, talk, talk, talk. They don't say 
anything, but it is just talk, talk, talk, talk. Did you 
ever think of the yards and yards of talk that you hear 
that doesn't amount to anything? Why? Because they 
are out of communion with God and have lost their wit- 
ness. A Christian in the world is all right. There is no 
trouble about them. No one is saying anything against 
them. You say, "Didn't Christ say He left His disciples 
in the world?" Yes and that is the place for us until He 
calls us. 

Some time ago I was on the Spray and it went along all 
right until they knocked a hole in it and water began to 
come in and the boat began to sink. Then it was all 
wrong. The ship was made for the water, but when the 
water gets into the ship down it goes. I think the reporters 
of the morning papers, the moment the water began to 
come in, wanted to get out of that boat. 

There are a lot of Christians in the world about waist 
deep, and then they wonder why they haven't any power 
or influence. Man or woman, get out of the world and 
keep out of it, if you want power! Some one asked a 



WALKING WITH GOB. 385 

Scotchman if he was on his way to heaven, and he said, 
"Ah, man! I live there." Some one asked Billy Miner 
how the world was getting on. He said he didn't know, 
he hadn't been there for twelve years. This isn't our 
home, my friends, we don't dwell here. Our citizenship 
is up there. We don't belong down here. Some of us have 
lived long enough to find that out — most of us have lived 
long enough. A good many I am speaking to this after- 
noon will be gone inside of thirty days. But don't let the 
world get hold of you. Keep it under. Let me read to 
you just a few verses about Jehoshaphat, II Chronicles 
xvii, 1-7: "And Jehoshaphat reigned in his stead and 
strengthened himself against Israel. And he placed forces 
in all the fenced cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the 
land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim, which Asa 
his father had taken. And the Lord was with Jehosha- 
phat, because he walked in the first ways of his father 
David, and sought not unto Baalim; but sought to the 
Lord God of his father, and walked in His commandments, 
and not after the doings of Israel. Therefore, the Lord 
established the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah 
brought to Jehoshaphat presents; and he had riches and 
honor in abundance. And his heart was lifted up in the 
ways of the Lord; moreover he took away the high places 
and groves out of Judah." He was king of Judah and 
he strengthened himself against the enemies of God. He 
had a great army and the heavens seemed to smile upon 
him. Now just turn over into the eighteenth chapter, 
first verse: "Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in 



386 MOOD 7 >S LA TEST SEIIMOFS. 

abundance, and joined affinity with Ahab." Down he 
went. I suppose he reasoned in this way: "If I form 
affinity with Ahab I can perhaps win back Israel." He 
knew the edict had gone out against Ahab. There was 
Ahab, one of the worst men that had ever lived on earth. 
And yet Jehoshaphat, with all that light and knowledge, 
went down and formed affinity with him. What was the 
resnlt? It overthrew his dynasty. It wasn't long before 
the son went down and married Jezebel's daughter. All 
of Jehoshaphat's sons were put to death, and not only that, 
but the crown prince, his young son, was put to death and 
the kingdom passed over to some one else. "When the 
world forgets Christ, let you and I get out. We are iden- 
tified with Him. You go down the Mississippi river and 
after you drop down below Quincy, 111., you will find the 
Missouri river runs into the Mississippi. The Mississippi 
is quite a clear stream, but by and by the Missouri comes 
and it is very roily. For miles and miles these two streams 
run on separately, but after t'hey have gone on for a few 
miles it all becomes roily. That is a picture of the world. 
There is a pure and an impure man yoked together. By 
and by the pure man becomes impure. "How can two 
walk together, except they be agreed?" You cannot walk 
with the ungodly without conforming to them. Now, 
sometimes you see a great forest when you have been riding 
on the cars. There has come a great storm and has torn 
that forest all to pieces. What is the trouble? The trees 
were just on the surface. There is a great rock and a 
little soil on it, and for years the trees have grown and 



WALKING WITH GOD. 38? 

flourished on that soil. But when the testing time came, 
down went the tree. Why? Because there wasn't any 
depth. Now, what we want is to he rooted and grounded 
in Jesus Christ. You go down to Florida or to California 
and they will tell you that the best oranges are where the 
tap root goes down forty feet. The orange tree that strikes 
water at ten, bears oranges that are considered very poor. 
If it strikes water at twenty, the oranges are fair. If it 
strikes water at thirty, they are good; but the very best 
oranges are where the roots don't strike water until they 
get down to forty feet. What we want is Christians that 
are just rooted and grounded. Every Christian ought to be 
like the orange tree. I believe if we are growing as He 
would have us grow we would be like orange trees. 

But I mnst close. My time is up. I just want to say 
one thing more. Enoch walked with God, and God took 
him. He walked the wilderness to-day and the promised 
land to-morrow. Abraham walked with God and became 
the friend of God, and so what Enoch, Noah and Abraham 
did, we can d<o if we will. It is the privilege of every one 
of us to walk with God every day if we will. We can walk 
in the light from this hour on until we meet Him in glory, 
if we will. Let us unite in prayer, and let us pray that 
God may bring each one of us into fellowship with Himself. 



388 MOOD Y 'S LA TEST SERMONS. 



WHAT SHALL THE HARVEST BE? 

Thirteenth chapter of Matthew's Gospel first nine 
verses. We having been sowing for the last thirty days. We 
have sown on all kinds of soil, but we are not responsible 
for the soil we sow on. But let the congregation beware 
and be on their guard to see that they don't belong to the 
first three classes. I firmly believe that if there isn't real 
true, not only conviction, but contrition for sin, and if 
there isn't a straightening out of the past life, as far as it lies 
in us, then the seed will not take deep root, and it will not be 
long before many of those that claim to be young converts 
will relapse into their old life. But when a man or woman 
is thorough and they do the things God commands them 
to do and there is real true contrition, a true turning from 
sin to God, and if need be there is true restitution, then 
there is very little falling away. I don't believe we need 
to have so many backsliders if men and women will only 
start right. 

Let me read a few verses in the fourth chapter of John : 
" Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh 
the harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, 
and look on the fields; for they are white already for har- 
vest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth 



WHAT SHALL THE HARVEST BEf 389 

fruit unto life eternal : That both he that soweth and he 
that reapetli may rejoice together. And herein is that 
saying true, One soweth and another reapetli. I sent you 
to reap that whereon you bestowed no labor; other men 
labored, and ye are entered into their labors." 

I believe that it is literally true. I don't think any one 
need to say, "four months, and then cometh the harvest. " 
This is about as good a harvest field as you will find any- 
where in Christendom — right here. Now is the time just 
to move; let this be the time; let this be the hour; let 
each one of us thrust in the sickle. 

Now I come to my text, in the twelfth chapter of 
Daniel. It is the third verse, but I will read the second and 
third verses: " And many of them that sleep in the dust 
of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some 
to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be 
wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and 
they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever 
and ever." These are not the words of some hot-headed 
evangelist, they are not the words of some young fanatic, 
some young man just starting out in life, but they are the 
words o? an old statesman who had had a rich and deep 
experience, who had seen a great deal of the world's glitter, 
who had been in the court of Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar 
and Darius, who had seen a great deal of public life ; and now 
we find the old statesman and prophet is about ready to go 
home, his work is about finished, about over. And he 
takes up his pen and writes these words, "And they that 
be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and 



390 MOOD 7 'S LA TEST SEBMONS. 

they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever 
and ever." Now, notice how that has been fulfilled and how 
it is being fulfilled constantly. Although that statesman 
has been gone twenty-five hundred years, there never was a 
time in the history of the world when he shone so brightly 
as he does now. Not because he was premier of Nebuchad- 
nezzar's reign, not because he was chief executive under 
Darius — I don't think we ever heard of him as a statesman, 
as an eminent man, as a politician — but it was because he 
lived for God. He looked beyond this world and into the 
glory of the other. He lived for eternity, and how he 
shines to-day, and how he is going to shine on! Who can 
tell us who were the wise men of Babylon? Who their 
great geologists and scientists? We don't know the names 
of any of them. Who can tell us who were the great mil- 
lionaires of that time, the leading business men of Babylon, 
the great bankers and financiers? Their names we do not 
know, they were forgotten long, long ago — ages and ages 
ago and yet this man shines on. Now the fact is, we all 
like to shine; and I want to say that there is no true child 
of God here to-day that may not shine if he will. 

Now, we talk about the hard field. We say: "You 
know it is a very hard field here. You will find it very 
peculiar." I never yet went to a town where I wasn't told 
that it was a peculiar place. Now, that is only one of the 
devil's own arguments. Who ever had a harder field than 
this prophet? He was taken and made a slave; and not 
only a slave but he was a Hebrew, and there wasn't a nation 
under heaven that the heathens detested as they did those 



WE A T SHALL THE HAR VEST BE* 391 

Hebrews. This man couldn't speak a word of the lan- 
guage. All the royal court and every one there was against 
everything this man believed in, and yet he went down 
there and began to shine, and he went on shining right 
through to his old age. Now if he could work in that field 
that was so dark and unpromising, do you tell me there is 
any man or woman here who cannot work if lie or she will. 
Then you say you have no influence. You can make an 
influence. No position? You can make a position. 
Where did the Lord find Moses? Back there in Horeb, in 
the desert looking after sheep. Not a very high occupa- 
tion in the sight of those proud Egyptians! He had been 
there forty years, but he was just the man God wanted, 
and when God called him, he qualified him. And see how 
he has been shining all these centuries! He might have 
stayed in the Egyptian court, but he stepped over the 
crown of this w 7 orld and took up the cross and identified 
himself w 7 ith the unseen God. And he has become immor- 
tal. Where did God find Elisha? Behind twelve yoke of 
oxen. He was not a man of letters, not a man of position 
in this world, but he was just the man God called to take 
Elijah's place. Where did God find Gideon? Thrashing. 
Very common kind of work, but the Lord God took him. 
Where did God find David? Why! w T hen Samuel went 
to the house of Jesse to get some one to take Saul's place, 
they called in all the sons but a little boy who was taking 
care of the sheep. They thought he was too young; but 
that was the very one God wanted. That is where God 
found him. Don't talk about not having a position. God 



392 MOOD Y'S LATEST SERMONS. 

will give you position if you have a heart for the work. If 
you are willing to just take up the cross and follow the Son 
of God you will have position. Where did God find the 
twelve apostles? Not in Brown University ; not in Oxford ; 
not in Cambridge; not at Harvard, nor at Yale. He found 
them up there fishing at the Sea of Galilee. They were 
not lettered men, but they did the work very well and they 
shine pretty brightly, don't they? They outshone the 
whole of that crowd of men that looked down upon them. 
One hundred years ago Napoleon was a wonder to the 
nation. People seemed to speak his name with bated 
breath; they looked upon him as almost a little god; and 
some thought he was the Antichrist. But where is his 
glory to-day? I was in Paris in 1867 and when Napoleon 
the Third rode through the streets the people went nearly 
wild. I made inquiries in regard to the excitement, and 
they said it was the young prince that had come into the 
exposition. Paris was just wild over the name of Napoleon. 
That was in 1867, and only four years after that he was an 
exile, and only a little while after that he lay in his little 
narrow coffin — a coffin no larger than we shall have. And 
his body hasn't been taken back to France yet, They 
won't have it taken back. His glory is gone; but the glory 
of the fisherman of Galilee hasn't gone. They shine on, 
and are going to shine on. We have the privilege to go 
out and work. Let every man use the talent God has 
given him. Don't be mourning because you haven't more, 
but just take what you have and go to work. 

I saw a picture some years ago, and I was stupid enough 



WHA T &RALL THE II A R VEST BE* 393 

to think I would buy it. I thought it would be a fine 
thing to have in the house. It represented some poor lost 
one just coming up out of the water on to a rock which 
had a cross on top of it. The figure had both arms around 
the cross and was saved. I suppose some one had a better 
idea of it than I did, for they soon got out another picture 
representing that same one coming up out of the water and 
putting one arm round the cross and stretching out the 
other to save some one else. That was it. There are lots 
of Christians who have both arms round the cross and they 
say, " I am safe. Let the world perish. I joined the church 
twelve years ago." And that is all you know about their 
Christianity. I have very little sympathy with this idea 
that you have got to look up some old musty church record 
to find out whether a man or woman is a Christian or not. 
I believe this city could be turned upside down inside of a 
week, if every man would do what he could. Don't 
attempt to do some great thing, but do what you can. 
Some years ago I heard of a man who did something when 
he was seasick, and that is about the time when I feel as if 
I couldn't do anything. That is about the last place for a 
man to attempt to do anything for another; he is so occu- 
pied with himself. But this man was very sick, and all at 
once he heard a cry on deck, "Man overboard." "Poor 
fellow, I wish I was well, and then perhaps I could do 
something to save him." It was dark, and all at once the 
thought occurred to him : If I hold the light at the porthole 
it may do some good. So he put a lantern at the porthole, 
and by and by the news came that the man was saved. 



394 



MOODY'S LATEST SERMONS. 



He lay down again and had a turn at being seasick. By 
and by he crept np on deck and got into conversation with 
a man. After some talk with him he found it was the very 
man who had been overboard. He began to talk with him 
about how it happened. 

The man said he was going down the third time and had 
given up all hope, when some one put a light at the port- 
hole and they just saw his hand and grabbed it. By put- 
ting that light at the porthole, he saved a man's life. 
My dear friends, you can just hold the light for some one 
else, can't you? You can do something if you will. 

Now, my friends, what we want is to do something. 
Just think of the work that could be done here if each one 
of us would do some one thing! Some one has described 
this world as two great mountains; one a mounMin of sor- 
row and the other a mountain of joy. If you can take a 
little off of that mountain of sorrow and put it on the 
mountain of joy, the mountain of joy keeps growing. 
Doesn't it? If you cannot do as much as some one else, 
just do what you can. God doesn't ask me to improve ten 
talents if I have only one. But if I go and bury my talent 
because someone else has more, then I am not going to 
hear the master say: "Well done." Now, I want to say 
that there is something that every one can do if they love 
Christ, and I am talking to Christians this afternoon. If 
we are true Christians we can speak to some one every day 
about spiritual things. Now, I have been asked to say a 
word and tell the people how they can keep from backslid- 
ing. A good way is to make it a point to read a portiou 



WHAT SHALL THE BAR VEST BEt 395 

of Scripture every day of your life, and not let a day pass 
that you don't speak to some one about spiritual things. 
If you do that you will never backslide. You have got to 
keep your own heart warm, in order to talk to other 
people. Just go right to work and do something for some 
one else. If you see a man in trouble just try to help 
him. Just a kind word may do him good. Go and nurse 
a sick person for one night if they are not able to hire a 
nurse, or, if the wife has been watching by the husband 
for weeks, just take her place for a night. In this way you 
will get hold of these families that are now godless and 
Christless. Then another thing: there is many a man that 
can be reached by a kind word spoken in the spirit of 
Christ. Just a little word on the street or when you are 
doing business, a word about the Saviour will have weight 
with many a man. 

What are we doing to save these men? Come, my 
friends, let's arise and go to work. I heard a man the 
other night discussing higher criticism, and I found out he 
was living in sin. I said to him: "You ought to confess 
sin and get rid of it." 

Now, mark ye. "He that winneth souls is wise." It 
doesn't say, "He that discusses is wise." I believe that is 
the highest occupation on the face of the earth. I don't 
believe there is any higher call on this side of heaven and 
you can all have a hand in it if you will. It is said of 
Napoleon that he had a medal struck off, on one side giv- 
ing an account of thr battle, and on the other side these 
words, "I was there." Lonf years after Napoleon had 



396 MOODY'S LATEST SERMONS. 

died those old veterans would take out their medals and 
say, "Just look there. Eead that." And then they would 
turn the medal over and you would read, "I was there." 
They were proud of the fact that they were in the thickest 
of the fight. My dear friends, there is a terrible fight 
going on between darkness and light; between God and 
Satan. Let us nave a hand in it, and on the hill-tops of 
glory we shall meet and say, "I was there." Every one of 
you can do this if you will. 

Now, there are just two words I would like to leave with 
you. You may forget all the rest of my sermon, but just 
remember these two words: Consecrate and concentrate. 
First consecrate your life to God, and then concentrate 
your life upon some one thing. It will cut a channel so deep 
that your influence will be felt. Just consecrate yourselves 
wholly and fully to God; and when you work, work for 
Him and not for yourself. Work directly for Jesus Christ, 
and you will not be disappointed. 

So let us just consecrate our lives to Him. Let us not 
be selfish, and want our children converted just to make 
our lives a little sweeter, but let it be for His sake. And 
then let us just concentrate our lives upon one thing, and 
do what we can to extend the Kingdom. I believe what 
made Dr. Duff so mighty was because he just gave his life 
for India. He just lived for that one country, and his 
influence is felt all through India to-day. I was in Scot- 
land when he was there. I knew he had concentrated his 
life upon India and was accomplishing something. Oh, I 
do like to meet such men, because their whole life has been 



WE A T SUA LL THE HA R VEST BE? 397 

concentrated upon one thing and they are a success. He 
made a speech in I860, and it was an appeal for India. I 
bought a copy and read it. They had plenty of money in 
their treasury but they couldn't get any men to go there. 
And the old man stood up there for an hour and a half and 
plead and wept for India. Then he fainted away and they 
carried him out into the vestibule and worked over him for 
some time. When he came to they said to him : " Do you 
know w T here you are?" And for a few moments he seemed 
bewildered, and then he said, " Oh, yes, I know now. I was 
making an appeal for India before the General Assembly. 
I didn't quite finish my speech. Take me back." But 
they told him that if he went back, he would do it at the 
peril of his life. Bat he said, " I must make one more 
plea for India," and George H. Stuart said it was one of 
the sublimest scenes of his life when they brought that old 
man back, and the tears flowed all over the hall. The old 
man crept up to the desk again and said: "Is it true, 
fathers and mothers, that yon have no more sons to give 
for India? The Lord Jesus has been calling for years for 
men to go and preach His gospel there, and the call has 
been denied, and word has come back that Scotland has no 
more sons for India. When the queen calls for men for her 
army Scotland is very anxious to get her sons enlisted; but 
the Lord wants them and the response is: 'We cannot 
spare our sons to go to India. ' If it is true, although my 
health is broken down and 1 have come here to die among 
my friends, if it is true, I will pack up to-morrow and be 
ofl to the shores of the Ganges and let those men there 



398 MOOD Y'S LA TEST SERM0N8. 

know that there is one poor old Scotchman that will die 
for them." That is the kind of men we want to-day. 
Yon tell me those men are not going to shine? Why! Dr. 
McDuff shines all through India and in the Kingdom of 
God. Oh, I wish I had the spirit of the Lord Jesus i If 
I could only say something to stir you up, what a grand day 
it would be, not only for Ehode Island, but for all this 
republic! Why! sometimes when I read the life of Paul, 
I am ashamed of the Christians of this nineteenth century. 
You take your stand beside that little warrior. He has 
been beaten four times. The Jews had given him thirty- 
nine stripes, and they are going to give him thirty-nine 
more. In those times many a man died in the very act of 
being scourged. That little tent-maker had been scourged 
four times already, and they were going to do it the fifth 
time. Take your stand beside him. I see the old warrior, 
with his eyes as keen as an eagle's, when he is asked what 
he will do when he comes out of that difficulty, he says: 
"Do! This one thing I do, I press toward the mark for 
the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. I 
am not going to be overcome by such little difficulties as 
these." They bring the rods down over that weak body, 
he is all bruised and mangled by the blows he has received 
from those enemies of Christ. They ask him what he is 
going to do if he comes out of this difficulty. They say to 
him: " You better go off into Arabia again and rest," and 
some one tells him not to be so fanatical, so much in 
earnest. But he says, "This one thing I do. I press 
toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God 



WE A T SUA LL THE EAR VEST BE? 399 

in Christ Jesus." Look at him again. They have stoned 
him, and I don't know but that they have stoned him to 
death. They pick up great stones and hurl them at that 
little man, and there he lies all mangled and bruised. I 
see him get up and he staggers. Is he going to sit down 
and write a letter to some paper and tell how he has been 
abused? Look at him again. He goes over into Macedonia 
and the first thing that happens is that he is arrested and 
put into the Phillipian jail. I think if any of this choir 
were put into that jail they wouldn't sing very much. I'm 
afraid my friend Jacobs wouldn't sing very much, or if he 
did sing I am afraid it would be something like "Hark a 

doleful " There was no sign that they were going to 

get out of the jail and they thought perhaps they had got 
to die there, but they sang praises as aforetime. If they 
were to go by the way of the Phillipian jail they had just 
as soon go that way as any other. They were pressing 
toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in 
Christ Jesus. I tell you what (if you will allow me the 
expression), the devil got his match when he got hold of 
Paul. He was just pressing toward home. He preached 
the gospel everywhere he went. Like John Bunyan, they 
told him if he would give up preaching they would let him 
out of prison. He replied, "Let me out to-day, and I will 
preach to-morrow." But look at Paul again. Here is a 
consecrated man, a man that has concentrated his life upon 
one thing. He preached Christ and held him up every- 
where he went. And that is the kind of men we want 
now, "If I be lifted up I will draw all men unto me." 



400 MOOD T 'S LA TEST SERMONS. 

Go and lift Him np in your homes, in the Sunday schools, 
in the darkest street you have in this city. We can all 
do it. This little child here can lift Him up if she will. 
Many a child has been used to lead some giant, as it were, 
into the Kingdom. When we become as little children, 
then it is that God can use us. God wants our weakness. 
But look at Paul now. His warfare is over. He picks 
up his pen and writes his last letter to Timothy: "I have 
fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept 
the faith; Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of 
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall 
give me at that day; and not to me only, but to all them 
also that love His appearing." Thank God He never 
broke away. It was a good fight, wasn't it? My dear 
friends, it is a good fight we are fighting, we are on th* 
Lord's side. When he finished the letter they took him 
out and Nero gave orders to have him executed. When I 
was in Rome they tried to tell me the road he walked. 
I used to walk that road and I just tried to get my feet 
into the footprints where Paul walked. Tradition says 
they led him out two miles. Talk about Alexander and 
Caesar. Eome never had such a warrior. Walk along by 
his side. Let some of these whining, mournful, sad Chris- 
tians that have got such a long, tedious face and experience 
walk along beside him and say, "Well, Paul, you have had 
a hard time haven't you?" "No! I have had a glorious 
fight. I have had a grand fight and a grand battle." 
"Would you like to live your life over again?" "Yes." 
"If you had a thousand lives wouldn't you give a few of 



tyHA T SUA L L THE II A li VEST BE? 401 

them to Rome?" "No. I had rather serve Christ a thou- 
sand times over than serve the God of this world. I served 
the God of this world in Jerusalem, and I know what it is. 
1 know what it is to serve Jesus Christ." "Yes. But 
they are goiug to behead you." "Well, Nero may have 
my head, but the Lord has my heart." They thought 
they were going to execute him but they didn't know what 
they were talking about. Paul looked beyond. He saw a 
crown and a city whose builder and maker was God. "I 
press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of 
God in Christ Jesus." Do you tell me the form of the 
fourth isn't there? Do you tell me the angels were not in- 
terested in that execution? Do you suppose the chariots of 
Israel were not gathered around that man? God was with 
him, and when his work was done God said, "Come home, 
Paul, I have a welcome for you." Think of the eighteen 
hundred years that he has of untold joy. I don't suppose 
there is an hour in the day but that some one is converted 
by reading some of his epistles. Look at the fruit that 
man has had. "They that be wise shall shine as the 
brightness of the firmament." Isn't he going to shine? 
And if he shines down here, how must he shine up there. 
Think of it. Let us now reconsecrate ourselves to God. 
Let each one take hold and do all he can. If you can 
reach a man by taking him to the Episcopal church, take 
him to the Episcopal church. If you can reach him by 
taking him to the Baptist church, take him to the Baptist 
church. Never mind about the creeds and doctrines. 
Never mind about these names, they are nothing. What 



402 MOOD Y >8 LA TEST SEllMONS. 

we want is to get above these party walls. Now, to-night, 
God willing, I will speak to the unconverted and I hope each 
one of you will bring some one else. While I am preaching 
you just keep praying. 



/ 

FEB 2 WOO 

When Shiloh Came. 



BY 



Ambrose Lester iJackson. 



12mo, 320 rages. Bound in Extra Cloth, $1.50. 



Seven Full-page Illustrations by the Author. 



This book is not a religious novel of the style and quality usually 
offered to the public. It is rather a prose pnem, in which the 
splendid decadence of an ancient idolatry is pictured with rare 
felicity by a new writer of brilliant promise. 

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certain power in its pages that will impress and fascinate the mind. 
It contains enough of plot, mystery, adventure, and the like, to hold 
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the heathen gods, and expectation of something better, lifts it far 
above the level of mere sensational fiction. Moreover, its locale is 
new. The usual background of stories of the times antecedent, or 
subsequent, to the birth of Christ, is either Rome, or Jerusalem; 
but the scene of this charming romance is in that far removed 
region of the Orient known to the ancients as Magog and Shem, 
and to modern geographers as Beloochistan. 

The prologue to the stoiy is a masterpiece of poetic imagery; 
the story itself is an idyl of surpassing beauty. 

We anticipate a very large sale for this work among all denomi- 
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original designs by the Author who is not only an able author, but 
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The book is for sale by all bookdealers everywhere, or it will 
be sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of price, $1.50. 

(Hip Agents Wanted to sell this book in every church and 
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J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
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